Black Gum (Tupelo)
Nyssa sylvatica Large tree Zones 4–9 40–70 ft
Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
A native we do not grow
Loblolly Pine
Pinus taeda. Large tree, 40 to 90 feet, zones 6 to 9; full sun or part shade; average or wet ground.
We do not grow loblolly pine, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.
At a glance
| Other names | North Carolina pine |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 90 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 40 |
| Zones | 6 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | February to April |
| Fruit | Cones, September to December |
| First crop | 12 to 18 years (some cones; good crops by 25) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but a lone pine tends to set less seed than pines in a group. |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 250 years, and the oldest dated one reached 246. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, the coast, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 15 states and the District of Columbia |
Loblolly pine is native in 15 states and the District of Columbia: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio, where it is naturalized, not native.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place How many to plant for a crop of seed Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of loblolly pine's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
American Elm
Ulmus americana Large tree Zones 2–9 60–80 ft
Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Blueberry Hawthorn
Crataegus brachyacantha Small tree Zones 4–9 20–50 ft
Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Willow Oak
Quercus phellos Large tree Zones 5–9 40–75 ft
Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Swamp Tupelo
Nyssa biflora Large tree Zones 6–9 60–80 ft
Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Swamp Laurel Oak
Quercus laurifolia Large tree Zones 6–10 40–80 ft
Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Read from
Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service and Virginia Tech's dendrology site.