Pinus resinosa – Red Pine

A pine of northern boreal forests that naturally occurs only at higher elevations in the Catskills. It was widely planted at lower elevations in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and there still may be some extant planted populations. It was valued as a timber tree for growing quickly and developing a straight trunk. Native pines are easy to tell apart. White Pine (P. strobus) has needles in bundles of 5, Pitch Pine (P. rigida) in bundles of 3, and this species in bundles of 2. There’s an introduced pine in our area with needles in bundles of 2, Scots Pine (P. sylvestris) that’s similar to Red Pine. The bark of Scots Pine is orange toward the top of the tree and it has shorter needles (less than 3 inches) than Red Pine (more than 3 inches long).