Sand Pines

I seem to have loaned my Florida Tree book to someone and never received it back.

Does anyone know what the life span of the Sand Pine is? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62752/

Thanks,
Molly

Generally determined by fire frequency! According to http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pincla/all.html it "rarely reaches 100 years in age".

Resin

Hey Molly! I googled and found an article that said they had some in Ocala about 80 years old. Almost all of the big ones in our neighborhood got pushed over by the hurricanes in 2004. They were about twenty years old. The good (?) news is that our neighbor's tree is pushed over, but still alive. Birds love it. They've still got plenty over at Camp Blanding, though, that I'm sure are older than that.

Shelley

Resin, Thank you for the very informative article. The fire threat is a little disturbing and I may want to keep some of their growth density under control. Now would be the time to keep them thinned so they won't be allowed to make a forest and kill all the undergrowth.

Of course, the Florida Rosemary bushes, which these trees co-exist with are also highly flammable. We removed a lot of these when the land was cleared 3 years ago. The back 1 acre is still pretty dense with them and we are very careful not to let flying embers get back there.

Shelley!!! Good to see you pop in. These trees DO seem to be very tolerant of me and the land. Since I should thin some more back, would you be interested in any? I would be happy to share.

Sounds like they'll be around longer than me. I don't have another 78 years in me.

Molly
:^)))

You've good reason to be worried about fire around here. We're in the same boat. This is part of the reason that I've focused on keeping and replanting longleafs. From what I've read, they are as fire-proof as a tree is likely to get. We've fewer trees in the couple of acres directly around our house because my husband took out most of the turkey oaks and the hurricanes took out about a third of what was left (which left a lot of hot, beating sun for his future gardener wife), but there are thousands of acres of trees all around us. Anyway, it's a frightening thing, as I'm sure a lot of people here and out west know, to sit outside at night and watch the flames reflected off the clouds.

But the difference is clear at Camp Blanding. The stands of big Sand Pines weathered the hurricanes and are still there. Most of the big individuals on our road went over. It's a risk either way. I will say, though, that Sand Pines are a much more attractive tree. We have three or four on our property over fifteen feet and little babies coming up all in the woods. We've also got another kind of small pine coming up that is not Longleaf or Sand Pine. My husband said he had Loblolly Pine years ago before some kind of pine beetle came through, so that may be it. Now something is killing the Loblolly Bays at home. It just hurts a tree-hugger's heart.

Query . . has anyone got easy access to a wild stand (not planted!) of Sand Pines, and would be willing to collect some cones for me for my herbarium?

Thanks!

Resin

Let me look when I get home and see what I've got. I'll send you a D-mail.

Shelley