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Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
n
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
. Its native range in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
is east of the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, and the north-central and northeast of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
from
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
to
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
, with the southernmost part of the range just into northwest
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
and northwest
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It is also known as grey pine and scrub pine. In the far west of its range, ''Pinus banksiana'' hybridizes readily with the closely related lodgepole pine (''Pinus contorta''). The species epithet ''banksiana'' is after the English botanist Sir Joseph Banks.


Description

''Pinus banksiana'' ranges from in height. Some jack pines are shrub-sized, due to poor growing conditions. They do not usually grow perfectly straight, resulting in an irregular shape similar to pitch pine (''Pinus rigida''). This pine often forms pure stands on sandy or rocky soil. It is fire-adapted to stand-replacing fires, with the cones remaining closed for many years, until a forest fire kills the mature trees and opens the cones, reseeding the burnt ground. Its leaves are needle-shaped, evergreen, in fascicles of two, needle-like, straight or slightly twisted, stiff, sharp-pointed, light yellowish-green, spread apart; edges toothed and long. The bundle-sheath is persistent. The buds are blunt pointed, up to 15 mm long, reddish-brown, and resinous. On vigorous shoots, there is more than one cyclic component. The bark is thin, reddish-brown to gray in color in juvenile stages. As the tree matures it becomes dark brown and flaky. The wood is moderately hard and heavy, weak, light brown colour. The seed cones vary in shape, being rectangular to oval, cone shaped, straight or curved inward. The cones are long, the scales with a small, fragile prickle that usually wears off before maturity, leaving the cones smooth. Unusually for a pine, the cones normally point forward along the branch, sometimes curling around it. That is an easy way to tell it apart from the similar lodgepole pine in more western areas of North America. The cones on mature trees are serotinous. They open when exposed to intense heat, greater than or equal to . The typical case is in a fire, however cones on the lower branches can open when temperatures reach due to the heat being reflected off the ground.


Ecology

Kirtland's warbler Kirtland's warbler (''Setophaga kirtlandii''), also known in Michigan by the common name jack pine bird, or the jack pine warbler, is a small songbird of the New World warbler family (Parulidae), named after Jared Potter Kirtland, an Ohio do ...
(''Setophaga kirtlandii''), a formerly
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
, depends on pure stands of young jack pine in a very limited area in the north of the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
for breeding. Most known nesting areas are limited to Crawford, Oscoda, and Ogemaw counties. Mature jack pine forests are usually open and
blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...
are often abundant in the
understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...
. Young jack pines are an alternate host for sweet fern blister rust (''Cronartium comptoniae''). Infected sweet ferns (''Comptonia peregrina'') release powdery orange spores in the summer and nearby trees become infected in the fall. Diseased trees show vertical orange cankers on the trunk and galls on the lower branches. The disease does not tend to affect older trees.Blouin, Glen. ''An Eclectic Guide to Trees: east of the rockies''. 2001. Boston Mills Press, Erin, Ontario. pp 152-159. Jack pines are also susceptible to scleroderris canker (''Gremmeniella abietina''). This disease manifests by yellowing at the base of the needles. Prolonged exposure may lead to eventual death of the tree. Insects that attack jack pine stands include the white pine weevil (''Pissodes strobi''), jack pine sawfly, and jack pine budworm (''Choristoneura pinus''). Fossil evidence shows the jack pine survived the glacial period in the Appalachian and
Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
.Trees of Canada; Author John Laird Farrar


Commercial uses

Like other species of pine, ''Pinus banksiana'' has use as timber, although its wood tends to be knotty and not highly resistant to decay. Products include
pulpwood Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production. Applications * Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gene ...
,
fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy b ...
, decking, and
utility pole A utility pole is a column or post typically made out of wood used to support overhead power lines and various other public utilities, such as electrical cable, fiber optic cable, and related equipment such as transformers and street lights. I ...
s.


References


Bibliography

* * National Geographic Field Guide to Trees of North America.


External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q806838 Pinus Pinus taxa by common names Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Trees of Saskatchewan Trees of Alberta Trees of the Northeastern United States Trees of Ontario Trees of the United States Trees of the Great Lakes region (North America) Least concern flora of North America Least concern flora of the United States