Description
Like all members of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five (rarely 3 or 4), with a deciduous sheath. They are flexible, bluish-green, finely serrated, and 5-13 centimeters (2–5 in) long, and persist for usually about 18 months.
The cones are slender, 8–16 cm (3–6 in) long (rarely longer than that) and 4–5 cm (1.5–2 in) broad when open, and have scales with a rounded apex and slightly reflexed tip. The seeds are 4–5 mm (3/16 in) long, with a slender 15–20 mm (3/4 in) wing, and are wind-dispersed. Cone production peaks every 3 to 5 years.
Mature trees can easily be 200 to 250 years old. Some white pines live over 400 years. A tree growing near Syracuse, New York was dated to 458 years in the late 1980s and trees in both Wisconsin and Michigan have approached 500 years in age.
Read more about this topic: Pinus Strobus
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