Longleaf pine sapling in the Historic Gardens, by William Hanley.
Botanical name: Pinus palustris
Common name: Longleaf pine
Family name: Pinaceae (Pine family)
Native range: Southeastern United States Coastal Plain
Location in Duke Gardens: Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, Historic Gardens
USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-9
Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine
The summer land where the sun doth shine,
Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,
Here’s to ‘Down Home,’ the Old North State!
Thus begins a poem by Leonora Monteiro Martin, which was adopted as the official North Carolina state toast in 1957. To call North Carolina the “land of the long leaf pine” is no exaggeration, as this tree has shaped the history of the state in numerous ways.
Native to the Southeastern Coastal Plain, with a range stretching from the Virginia border to central Florida and west to southern Mississippi, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is the dominant species in longleaf pine savannas—a mixture of woodland and grassland which is more open and “park-like” than a typical forest. This expansiveness is maintained by regular, small-scale fires, which endemic species have adapted to in various ways. Fire also keeps the habitat from being overrun by more common generalists. As a result, longleaf pine savannas are home to a wide variety of native wildflowers, including carnivorous plants and orchids, as well as salamanders, amphibians and rare birds like the red-cockaded woodpecker, which builds its nest exclusively in the cavities of living pines—making this ecosystem one of the most biodiverse regions on earth.
In their early years, young longleaf pine saplings resemble tufts of green grass, gathering their strength to shoot for the canopy at the earliest possible opportunity with a distinctive “bottlebrush” form. The grass stage is fire-resistant, but the thin bark of the “bottlebrush” makes it vulnerable; the tree will not be safe until it reaches the sapling stage at about 8 feet and starts forming lateral branches. As they continue to mature, longleaf pines increasingly rely on their thick scaly red-brown bark in order to survive fires, which rarely reach the level of the canopy. Regardless of their stage in life, longleaf pines have longer needles than most species of pine, making them easy to distinguish at a glance from other common pine species in the Southeastern U.S., such as loblolly (Pinus taeda) or shortleaf pine (P. echinata).
Longleaf pines were harvested in mass quantities by European settlers for timber and “naval stores” (such as resin, pitch, turpentine and tar) that were used to build and preserve wooden ships in the British (and later American) navies. So abundant were these products that many locations were named for them—such as the town of Tarboro on the Tar River—and Confederate soldiers from North Carolina became known as “Tar Heels” during the Civil War. Even after these industries fell into decline, the nickname stuck, and North Carolina is officially known as “the Tar Heel State” to this day.
Unfortunately, the devastating ecological impacts of this period also linger, with longleaf pine habitats reduced to a small fraction of their former range. In recent years, efforts by the state government, non-profits and private citizens have begun to restore longleaf to its former glory, recognizing it as a key component of the region’s culture and heritage on multiple levels.
Given the importance of this species to the state’s ecology, economy and identity, you might reasonably expect it to be the official state tree as well. In an unexpected twist, however, the state tree is merely “the pine”, leaving ambiguous which of the many native species of pine in North Carolina it is referring to. However, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine—one of the highest awards in the state—continues to honor this tree’s legacy.
While there are scattered patches of remnant longleaf pine habitat in the North Carolina Piedmont, the trees here at Duke Gardens are a far cry from the imposing specimens you’ll find elsewhere in the state. A few potted, young longleaf pines in the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants serve as representatives for their ecosystem, along with the pitcher plants and other wetland species in the newly opened Carnivorous Plant and Coastal Plain Collection at the Sunny Pond. Visitors will also find a planted longleaf sapling along the path near the Fisher Amphitheater in the Historic Gardens that has matured beyond the “grass” and “bottlebrush” stages, but still manages to look like it’s just stepped out of a Dr. Seuss illustration.
The next time you’re enjoying a meal on a warm summer night, raise a glass to this incredible species and its role in North Carolina history and culture.