Meet the South Florida Slash Pine! 🌿 Florida’s NEWEST PINE SPECIES

TERMINOLOGY TUESDAY 🌿
w/ the Florida Native Plant Society!

Our last species to profile of our Florida native pines is the most recently described species and one of the most difficult to distinguish;

Meet the South Florida Slash Pine!

South Florida Slash Pine
Pinus densa
Family: Pinaceae

Pinus densa was formerly lumped into Pinus elliottii, Slash Pine, and was known as Pinus elliottii var. densa. However, phylogenetic studies have shown this species is more closely related to Longleaf Pine and is now recognized as a distinct species.

This species is an excellent example of how relying on one specific character to identify a species can be misleading. Because there is genetic variation within populations of species, those single characteristics can vary - just like eye color or hair color can vary between individuals within our species, Homo sapiens.

For Pinus densa, we must rely on multiple characteristics, including location (Central and South peninsular FL only) and overall appearance, to guide our identification.

🌿 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES:

BARK: flaky, broadly plated bark, similar to P. elliottii. The exterior bark is dark grey-brown, flaking away to reveal the fresh tan-orange bark beneath.

NEEDLES: 7-12 inches long, occurring in bundles of two, sometimes three. They are yellow-green, straight, but often slightly drooping, and typically held more erect to the stem than Longleaf, but less erect than northern Slash (P. elliottii). The twigs are thick (though not as thick as Longleaf) and rough, with spreading scales.

FEMALE CONES: very similar to Slash (P. elliottii); medium size, russet-brown, 3-7 inches long, and have an ovoid shape when open with dull, reflexed spines - not painful to squeeze. The cones are the easiest way to differentiate many Pinus densa individuals from the huge cones of Longleaf (P. palustris).

FORM: from a distance, this species is known for its broccoli-like shape; dense branches with needles on branches that are typically touching and overlapping - creating a “dense” appearance that P. elliottii often lacks. It’s also differentiated from P. elliottii by the fire-adapted grass stage its seedlings exhibit - similar to Longleaf, but P. densa branches at an earlier stage than Longleaf.

Hopefully, this will give you some guidance in identifying this new species and some confidence, knowing that identification is not easy, even for the experts!

Thanks for tuning in! 👋🏻

Video & description by Lilly Anderson-Messec,
FNPS Director of North Florida Programs

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