Jack Pine

Jack pine is a scrubby northern pine that is native throughout much of Canada from the Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia south to the Great Lakes and northern New England. It grows further north in Canada than any other native pine. It is often found in the wild on poor, dry, sandy, barren plains. This is a small to medium sized conifer that typically grows to 35-50’ tall. It is a scraggly tree with a somewhat pyramidal shape that becomes open and irregular with age. Due in large part to shading from the sun, lower branching often dies but remains on the tree. Jack pine is particularly noted for its short, stiff, olive green needles (to 1.5” long) in bundles of two, its strongly-curved cones (to 2.5” long) and its ability to grow in poor soils. Needles may develop yellowish tones in winter. Cones ripen in two years, either opening at maturity or remaining closed on the tree for as much as 10 or more years. Closed cones are serotinous (sealed by resin), but will open after forest fires to distribute seed for new growth. Gray to reddish brown bark develops irregular fissuring with age. The sole breeding grounds for the rare Kirtland’s warbler are certain dense tracts of young jack pines (less than 20’ tall) in northern Michigan. Specific epithet of this tree honors Joseph Banks (1743-1820), an explorer, naturalist, botanist, plant collector and first director (commencing 1772) of Kew Gardens in England.