Pond Pine is a common and characteristic tree of pocosins and other wet habitats in the North Carolina Coastal Plain. Quite similar to the common Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) in leaf, Pond Pine is most easily identified by its female cones, which are as broad as long and have weak prickles.

The cones are late to open (serotina means 'late' in Latin), sometimes but not always waiting until after a fire.

New Hanover Co., NC 8/26/06.

Bark detail.

Bladen Co., NC 3/25/07.

Unlike Loblolly Pine, Pond Pine may sprout needles and short branches directly from the trunk. Pitch Pine (P. rigida) does the same, but grows in drier areas and only in the Mountains and upper Piedmont. Pond Pine is generally smaller in stature than Loblolly and does not grow as straight.

Bladen Co., NC 3/25/07.

Typical pocosin trees -- Pond Pine on right, Loblolly Bay (Gordonia lasianthus) on left, with a sapling Atlantic Whitecedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) in the middle.

Bladen Co., NC 3/25/07.