This native plant grows in a full range of soil types, including damp and wet soil with poor drainage. Its form or habit is conical and often has crooked branching with a trunk diameter of about 1 to 2 ft. Its native habitat includes swamps, shallow bays, and ponds on the NC Coastal Plain and eastern Piedmont. Its coarse, heavy wood is used for lumber and pulp. The name, serotina means late, referring to the cones, which remain closed for years before opening. They will open often following a fire. In fact, it is particularly resistant to wildfires; after fires, the seedlings and trees will produce sprouts from the roots. It can even re-sprout after being entirely consumed by a fire, making the resulting clusters of needles on the trunk a very identifiable feature of this tree. Insect, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: This tree is susceptible to wind damage. More information on Pinus .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Wet
NC region
Coastal; Piedmont
Growth rate
Medium
Canopy layer
2 - Understory
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Ascending; Conical; Open; Rounded; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Needled Evergreen
Leaf color
Gold/Yellow; Green
Leaf type
Needles
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf size
> 6 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Yellow-green 6 to 8 in. needles in bundles of 3 (3 per fascicle), sometimes 4. They are thin, flexible, and may grow with a slight twist, tufting at the ends. They fall off the tree after 3 to 4 years.
Flower detail
Flowers bloom in April.
Bloom time
Spring
Fruit color
Brown/Copper; Gold/Yellow
Fruit size
1-3 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Fruit detail
2 to 3 in., light yellow-brown, globose cones, armed with a small spine, that have either a round or pointed tip. The scales are flat and the spine at the tip can easily come off. They only open in response to heat from a fire and stay on the tree for many years after. Fruit displays in August.
Bark color
Dark Brown; Red/Burgundy
Bark detail
Irregular furrowed/cross-checked into rectangular, flat, scaly plates. Dark brown bark that is broken into irregular, flattened, somewhat scaly plates.
Stem color
Orange
Stem detail
The twigs are stout (yellow-orange) and glaucous. They darken as they age.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Eastern seaboard, S. New Jersey to Florida
Distribution
NJ southwest to AL, east to FL
Wildlife value
This plant supports Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. This plant attracts birds, butterflies, moth larvae, and mammals.