# Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)

> Loblolly pine, Pinus taeda: a large tree of 40 to 90 feet for zones 6 to 9, how fast it grows, where it grows wild, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/loblolly-pine/

![A stand of tall, straight loblolly pines with open crowns of long needles against a cloudy blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/loblolly-pine-1000.jpg?v=c09d8f53 "Tall loblolly pines in the Lost Pines near Bastrop, Texas, on August 18, 2009. Loblolly pine cones ripen by October of their second year, and most seed falls in November.")
*Photo: rutlo, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APinus_taeda_Bastrop1.jpg))*

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

| Fact | Loblolly Pine |
| --- | --- |
| 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO) and [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=loblolly-pine): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=loblolly-pine:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Black Gum (Tupelo)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/index.html.md) (*Nyssa sylvatica*): large tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Blueberry Hawthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/blueberry-hawthorn/index.html.md) (*Crataegus brachyacantha*): small tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Willow Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/willow-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus phellos*): large tree, 40 to 75 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Tupelo](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-tupelo/index.html.md) (*Nyssa biflora*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Laurel Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-laurel-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus laurifolia*): large tree, 40 to 80 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of loblolly pine in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=loblolly-pine)

## 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.