Fast-growing and commercially valuable, here are some of the best Types of Pine Trees in Texas you can grow in your landscape!
Native to Texas, pine trees are widely spread in North America. They are adaptive to different environmental conditions and are hardy survivors. These trees also used extensively as a timber source in construction, land management, furniture, and more. Here are some of the most famous Types of Pine Trees in Texas.
Wonder where do pine nuts come from? Click here to find out!
1. Longleaf Pines
Botanical Name: Longstraw Pine
Longleaf pines are also known as longleaf yellow pine, southern yellow pine, long straw pine, hard pine, hill pine, heart pine, and pitch pine. They grow primarily in the east and endure the diverse weather conditions in Texas. This pine variety has the longest needles and largest cones of all texas pines. The tree remains small, in the first 3 to 25 years, growing a deep taproot at this time. They can reach up to 100-120 feet high.
2. Shortleaf Pines
Botanical Name: Pinus echinata
Shortleaf pines are eastern texas pine that can be found on hills, fields, upland woods, and slopes. The shortleaf pines are cold-tolerant and cannot be grown with loblolly pines. They can grow up to 80-100 feet tall. The tree features 3-5 inch long short dark yellow-green needles with egg-shaped red-brown cones.
3. Loblolly Pines
Botanical Name: Pinus taeda
This pine variety is also famous as Oldfield, Arkansas pine, or North Carolina. They can reach a height of 50-80 feet. The needles are 9-10 inches long and yellow-green. The tree produces stems that grow a bit twisted or upswept with the outward branches, with red-brown oval or cylindrical cones. Loblolly pines do not require lots of water and can resist soil with higher pH compared to other pines.
4. Ponderosa Pines
Botanical Name: Pinus ponderosa
Ponderosa or yellow pines grow in the Chisos, Davis Mountain Ranges, and Guadalupe in West Texas. They are large-crowned trees thriving in limestone and other mineral-rich soil. Generally, these trees can reach up to 90-100 feet in height and can even go up to 160-200 feet sometimes! The needles appear in bunches of three (sometimes both two and three), 4-10 inches long, slender, with sharp edges.
5. Southern White Pines
Botanical Name: Pinus strobus
Southern white pines are the rarest texas pine trees. They have silver-white bark, giving it a distinctive look as compared to the other pine varieties. With tiered branches and blue-green needles, it has beautiful clusters at the end of twigs. The tree can reach up to 90-100 feet in height.
6. Nut Pines and Pinyons
Botanical Name: Pinus gerardiana/Pinus edulis Engelm
Nut pines and Pinyon trees grow in west Texas. Both of these trees form a triangular shape and can grow up to 70-80 feet tall but usually attain a height of only 20-30 feet. The nut pine has a conical crown while pinyons have a rounded crown. Nut pine produces edible nuts inside their hard shell.
Check out our article on pine needle uses in the garden here!
7. Slash Pine
Botanical Name: Pinus elliottii Engelm.
Slash pines can be seen all across the southern United States. They can grow up to 80-120 feet tall, and varieties like Pinus elliottii can even reach 2-3 feet in diameter! The Florida slash pine (densa), can reach up to 50-60 feet in height. Their strong wood has uses in the making of railroad ties, poles, and pilings.
You didn’t say where southern white pine grew.
I think I have found them in the Wichita falls area, but don’t know if they’re native
What pines are best adapted to grow in the alkaline soil of Texas, west of San Antonio?
I heard that the Italian Stone Pines grow best West of San Antonio as far as the pines go. I am going to plant two that are about 4.5ft tall in Mico, just outside of San Antonio in the Hill Country.
Both the short leaf and long leaf pine pictures are inaccurate.