White Pine - Eastern (Pinus strobes L.)

White Pine - Eastern (Pinus strobes L.) is the largest northeastern conifer, a magnificent evergreen tree with straight trunk and crown of horizontal branches, 1 row added a year, becoming broad and irregular.

Grades Available: Furniture Grade, Clear

Sizes Available: 4/4

Distribution: From north Georgia to SE Manitoba west to NE Iowa.

The Tree: Eastern white pine trees can reach a height of 150’ ft or more with a diameter of 3’ – 4’ ft or more. The bark is gray, smooth becoming rough, thick and deeply furrowed into narrow scaly ridges. Its cones are approximately 4” – 8” in, long stalked with con-scales thin, rounded and flat. Eastern white pine grows well in well-drained soils, sometimes in pure stands.

General Wood Characteristics: The heartwood of Eastern white pine is a light brown, sometimes with a reddish tinge, turning darker on exposure. The sapwood is white, tinged with yellow. It has a uniform texture, is easily worked with tools, shrinks little, easily kiln dried, is straight grained and has a high ability to stay in place. It has medium strength values, is easily worked and take stains, glue and finishes well. It also has good nail-holding ability. It is light weight, moderately soft, moderately weak, not stiff and low in shock resistance.

Working Properties: It is easily worked with tools, is straight grained and has a high ability to stay in place. It takes stains, glue and finishes well. It also has good nail-holding ability.

Durability: Eastern white pine is rated as moderately resistant to heartwood decay.

Uses: The bark is used to produce white pine tar, an antiseptic and expectorant. The wood is used for furniture, patterns, matches, boxes, sashes, doors, trim, caskets and toys. The tree is a popular Christmas tree.