Pining part 2: White Pine (Pinus strobus)?

The second tree I found myself inspecting while at Alley Park on Saturday was another coniferous tree. At first I just figured that this tree was just another Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) planted in a small clump near the picnic table I was using as an outdoor desk. Many times landscapers and landowners like to plant trees in small colonies, but I figured it would do me a little good to practice IDing as much as possible, so I began to compare this tree with the Red Pine I'd just looked up.

First, I plucked some dry needles off one of the low branches and I found that rather than 2 in a bundle that there were 5 needles in this bunch. These needles were also flexible and almost soft feeling- like a paint brush. I didn't notice any pine cones still stuck to the branches, while the Red Pine did have old pine cones. With my Peterson Field Guide in hand, I found the page listing the species with 3 and 5 "leafed" pines and browsed the list. Only one tree had 5 needles: the Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus). Apparently and easy way to remember that the White Pine has 5 needles is that there is one needle for each letter in w-h-i-t-e. The Peterson description below the Eastern White Pine simply said " Needles thin, cones slim, branches parallel." At that point I looked up and noticed that surely enough that branches were definitely parallel. I looked back at the red pine and the branches almost sloped upward slightly. I was satisfied. White pine it was. Suddenly I realized that the pine trees I'd climbed near one of my childhood homes were probably white pine; I remembered the parallel limbs that seemed to be built for children to climb and hang from. Ah, if my mother only knew... she probably would have climbed them with me.

Gathering Info at Alley Park

I took the afternoon to gather some information and practice identifying (IDing) trees in Alley Park, which is on the south side of Lancaster, OH.

I tested my skills with a few coniferous trees near the parking lot. Mostly, I was drawn to the nice shade and a few picnic tables for a comfy "studying" area.

I brought a small note pad along to help me label my trees visually on the camera. A few years ago I saw a few botanists doing this while trying to memorize some plants. They'd find out the name of the plant, write it on the scrap paper, shoot a picture of it, and then they'd shoot a picture of the plant. This meant that the pictures would automatically appear with names first and then the picture of the plant would be the next picture on the cue. It was so logical, I adopted this method to help me identify mystery plants and remind myself of plants with which I've had others help me identify (or that I had to look up). I've also taken to dating and reminding myself of the location of the plant so that I can double check it, or return to it in the future if necessary.

The first tree I started with had pine cones, but I wasn't sure what kind of tree it was based just on the pine cones. The cones did help me narrow down my search though. However, I knew that my best bet to ID was to go straight to the needles. Were they sharp and bristly, or were they soft and flexible? Sharp and bristly. How many needles were there in a bunch? Two. With this, I busted out my trusty Peterson Guide to Eastern Trees (since I currently live in central Ohio).
The pine cones were round and medium sized (about 2 inches in diameter). What was the trunk like? It mostly looked like a elephant's leg with cracks in it.

What did I come up with? Red Pine. Pinus resinosa. How easy is that latin name?! Just think: pine (Pinus) + resin (resinosa) and voila! As well, Peterson informs us that this tree is also known as Norway Pine, even though it's not from Norway; it's actually native to Northern America (and Ohio). This was a score for the good guys (AKA me) because I'm currently on a quest to find native plants, particularly trees, and collect seeds, pine cones, etc. to grow them for my up-and-coming native tree "farm."

It's a tough process because going to the average tree nursery isn't much help because so many of the trees are non-natives (AKA exotics) that have been brought in because they're pretty and because local birds and insects leave them alone. So my hope is to find and cultivate plants that actually belong in Ohio and that will feed birds, allow insects to be part of the food chain, and provide great shade and wind breaks for the tree owners. And, some of these trees may even have great flowers, nuts and fruits that the owners may also indulge in. Not only that, but the native plants hold up better than exotics do because they've adapted to Ohio's schizophrenic weather. Boo-yah, exotics!