# Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)

> Shortleaf pine, Pinus echinata: a large tree of 50 to 100 feet for zones 6 to 9, how far from a house to plant it, 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/shortleaf-pine/

![A small brown shortleaf pine cone beside a cluster of reddish buds among long, slender needles](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/shortleaf-pine-1000.jpg?v=c0659c34 "A young shortleaf pine cone among the needles in Chatsworth, New Jersey, on October 27, 2012. The cones mature by late summer or early fall, and seed starts to fall in late October.")
*Photo: John B., [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APinus_echinata_conelet_and_leaves.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 100 feet, zones 6 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow shortleaf 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 | Shortleaf Pine |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Shortleaf yellow pine, shortstraw pine, Arkansas soft pine, longtag pine |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 100 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 40 |
| Zones | 6 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | March to April |
| Fruit | Cones, August to December |
| First crop | About 20 years (earlier seed is exceptional) |
| 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 | Typically lives 200 years, and the oldest dated one reached 324. 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 | Dry uplands, rocky ground, the coast, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 22 states and the District of Columbia |

Shortleaf pine is native in 22 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), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [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), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [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), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) 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.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-pine): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-pine): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-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=shortleaf-pine): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-pine): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=shortleaf-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=shortleaf-pine): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=shortleaf-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=shortleaf-pine): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-pine): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-pine): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Winged Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/winged-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus alata*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Eastern Red Cedar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-red-cedar/index.html.md) (*Juniperus virginiana*): medium tree, 30 to 50 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Eve's Necklace](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eve-necklace/index.html.md) (*Styphnolobium affine*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 7 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Farkleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/farkleberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium arboreum*): small tree, 10 to 25 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Every companion of shortleaf pine in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=shortleaf-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 University of Georgia's forestry school, the US Forest Service and Virginia Tech's dendrology site.