FNPS Plant Database
Pinus echinata
Nomenclature
Common Name:
Synonym(s):
Genus species:
Family:
Pinaceae
Plant Specifics
Form:
Size:
Life Span:
Long-lived perennial
Flower Color:
Fruit Color:
Phenology:
Noted For:
Landscaping
Recommended Uses:
Considerations:
Availability:
Propagation:
Light:
Moisture Tolerance:
Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry
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Somewhat moist, no flooding -to- Somewhat long very dry periods
Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:
Unknown
Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
Soil or Other Substrate:
Sand, Loam
Soil pH:
Suitable to Grow In:
8A,8B
USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.
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Vouchered In:
Ecology
Wildlife:
Squirrels and other animals eat the seeds.
The USDA Forest Service indicates that it can be a cavity tree for red-cockaded woodpeckers.
Native Habitats:
Comments:
Ethnobotany:
General Comments:
The range of shortleaf pine extends north into New Jersey and Pennsylvania (maybe further north), and west into Texas and Oklahoma. It has some oddities in the BONAP maps that suggest that it has been poorly documented with herbarium specimens in Georgia. Based on what we know from BONAP and ISB, the range in north Florida is likely continuous, but likely does not extend down to the Gulf Coast. Given land uses, it may once of been more frequent and included counties from which there are no herbarium specimens. This pine has been used commercially for timber production, especially north of Florida.
Overall, it appears appropriate to plant this species in appropriate soil conditions anywhere in the Florida panhandle and east to Columbia County.
Citations:
BONAP Plant Atlas. (2014). Range Map: Pinus echinata. ( https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Pinus%20echinata.png ). Accessed 2025. Biota of North America Program, Chapel Hill, NC.
Lawson, Edwin R. (Undated). Pinus echinata : Shortleaf pine. ( https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/pinus/echinata.htm ). Accessed 2026. Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Pickens, Bill. (Undated). Silvics of Shortleaf Pine [in] Shortleaf Pine Initiative. ( https://shortleafpine.org/why-shortleaf/silvics ). Accessed 2026.
Huegel, Craig N. (2010). Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Osorio, Rufino. (2001). A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
University of Tennessee Extension Service. (2010). Desired pH Range and salt tolerance of common nursery plants. ( https://plantsciences.tennessee.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/10/Desired-pH-Range-List.pdf ). Accessed 2026. University of Tennessee Extension, Knoxville.
Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.
