Did you ever climb trees when you were young? I once climbed a Loblolly, but only made it 3/4 of the way up because the three swayed so much I was frightened it would break. Ha! If I'd only known just how strong it was...
The Longleaf Pine is native to Florida, and other parts of
the southeastern US. It is a much slower growing pine than the Loblolly or
Slash Pine and therefore has lost most of its habitat. The faster growing
Loblolly is what is found in over half of the southern tree farms now, which
take up 29 million acres.
I prefer the look of the Longleaf and was pleased
to find a website dedicated to the promotion, restitution of habitat, and well
being of the tree. As a native Floridian, native plant species are important to
me. We have so many invasive plants that have taken hold of the landscape and
changed it, for good or bad. Loblolly Pine is native as well, but was not as
all-pervasive as it is now.
Some fun trivia: Loblolly pine is the first among over 100
species of Pinus
to have its complete genome sequenced. As of
March 2014 it is the organism having the largest sequenced genome size. Its
genome with 20.15 billion base pairs is seven times larger than that of
humans. (from Wikipedia)
Longleaf from the air
Old Longleaf
A good sized, medium Loblolly pine
Loblolly needles
Longleaf needles
Sunset Longleaf stand
A Loblolly Tree Farm
When first settled, piney woods were a mainstay of
agriculture in the southeast, for building ships, furniture, homes and many
other things European humans needed. And piney woods have gone on to become one
of the dominate producers, even giving cotton a run for its money. But animals
use them too, dead and alive, for food, shelter, and nesting. Birds, deer,
squirrels and smaller mammals all depend on piney woods for their survival.
Loblolly timber
Take a look at this video and it will give you an idea of
just what a
precious resource Longleaf Pine forests were and still are…
