Red pine is recognized by a combination of features: the stiff needles, which are bundled in twos and average around 5 inches in length; the small, roundish cones; and the gorgeous mature bark, which features plates of orangish red. The natural range of red pine is a fairly narrow band, the center of which is made up of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence seaway, but the tree is often found in plantations well out of this range, from Kansas to southern Illinois and the Appalachians. We have encountered red pine—in "natural" woods or in plantations—in every state in the Midwest.

the bark of red pine is, well, red . . .

needles are bundled in twos, and are usually about 5 inches long

despite its large size red pine has a thin, scraggly aspect

mature trunk bark develops red plates separated by fissures

seed cones are small and roundish

developing pollen cones

mature pollen conest

developing seed cone

References: Peattie 1948, GN Jones 1971, Miller & Jaques 1978, Kricher & Morrison 1988, Preston 1989, RL Jones 2005, Mohlenbrock 2006, Kershaw 2007, Sibley 2009, Voss & Reznicek 2012, Mohlenbrock 2014, Hilty 2022, USDA 2022.

Kuo, Michael & Melissa Kuo (October, 2022). Pinus resinosa (red pine). Retrieved from the midwestnaturalist.com website: www.midwestnaturalist.com/pinus_resinosa.html

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