Types of Pine Trees

Pine tree, also known as conifera, has recently become very popular as an ornament tree. There are several pine tree types, each with different characteristics. These different characteristics have separated the pine trees from others similar trees. Pine trees belong to the genus Pinus. They are further divided into subgenus Strobus - white or soft pines and subgenus Pinus - yellow or hard pines. However, this is not enough for pine tree identification.

Pine trees are found in North America, Himalayas in India and several other places throughout the globe. They are known as coniferous trees and evergreens as they always are covered with leaves. The leaves of the pine trees are needle-shaped. Pine trees are famous for the pine cones that are also called 'flowers'. These cones are further divided into males and females with the male cone being 1-5 cm long and the female cone being 3-60 cm long. The male pine cones fall soon after having shed their pollen while the female pine cone takes longer, 2-3 years. These cones are eaten by birds and squirrels. Acid soil helps the pine trees to grow better. All these facts aside, the most important thing is that the pine trees look aesthetic and hence are used as Christmas trees too. Look below for a list of pine tree types.

Himalayan Pine Tree
Himalayan pines grow well in the hardiness zones 5-7 of North America. These trees can grow up to 50 feet tall and 35 feet in width. The bark of these trees is smooth and gray when the tree is young and becomes dark and hard as the tree matures. The branches are few and are spread out. The trunks of the Himalayan pine trees do not have any branches. The needles are soft and blue-green in color and grow in the bundles of 5 and are up to 4 inches in length. The cones are slender in shape and do not have any thorns on them. The roots of this tree are deep.

White Pine Tree
White pines have several species and all are valuable for their timber. The information on white pine trees is that it has high quality of wood that is soft and can be used in woodworking. The white pines are further divided into Western White Pine and the Eastern White Pine. The Western White Pine grows slowly and requires a reasonable amount of moisture in the soil. The Eastern White Pine grows rapidly and is one of the favorite types of pine trees for landscaping, growing up to 70 feet in height. However, the younger pine trees are more susceptible to pine tree diseases than the older ones.

Ponderosa Pine Tree
Also known as the Western Yellow Pine, Rock Pine or the Bull Pine, these trees are named so due to their heavy size. These pine tree species are native to the British Columbia. The trees have a straight trunk with a large crown of the branches, at the top. The needles of these trees are thin with toothed edges and grow in the bundle of 3 and the roots are deep inside the ground which not only help to get enough water and nutrients but also helps the tree to anchor itself deep into the ground. The cones of the ponderosa pine trees are narrow and oval shaped. These trees can reach up to 164 feet in height, in extreme cases.

Jack Pine Tree
Jack pines, also known as Prince Pine, Princess Pine, Scrub Pine, to name a few. These trees look shaggy and can grow in cold climates and in poor soils. These trees grow up to 100 feet in height and the roots penetrate deep into the soil as well as grow laterally on the ground. The leaves grow in the cluster of 2 and are short. The cones are smaller and closed due to the resinous bond. These trees cannot be used for landscaping. An interesting fact about these trees is that when the trees are planted in the deserts, they grow bushy.

Bristlecone Pine Tree
These are one of those pine tree types that grow slowly. Being one of the oldest types of pine tree, this type is believed to be 4,700 years old. These trees do not grow very tall, they can reach up to 50 feet in height, when they mature. This characteristic has given these trees the name shorties. These trees are famous as bonsai trees because of the rounded crown. The leaves are up to 5 inches in height and grow in the bundles of 5. The cones are up to 4 inches in height. These trees are found in the mountain regions in the Western part of America.

Other than the pine trees, there are several other pine tree types. A list of these pine tree types is given below.

• Pitch Pine Tree
• Lodgepole Pine Tree
• Norway Pine Tree
• Mexican Pine Tree
• Spruce Pine Tree
• Colorado Pine Tree
• Japanese Pine Tree
• Scotch Pine Tree
• Sugar Pine Tree
• Loblolly Pine Tree
• Austrian Pine Tree
• Virginia Pine Tree

These deciduous trees are very important from the commercial perspective and people also like to have pine trees in their gardens.