# Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii)

> Slash pine, Pinus elliottii: a large tree of 75 to 100 feet for zones 7 to 10, 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/slash-pine/

![Long slash pine needles in bundles seen from above, with a saw palmetto frond at upper left](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/slash-pine-1000.jpg?v=287007cc "Slash pine needles in Fort Myers, Florida, on December 15, 2012. It sheds pollen in late January and February, and its cones mature in September.")
*Photo: James St. John, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APinus_elliottii_(slash_pine)_(Fort_Myers%2C_Florida%2C_USA)_1_(25800488345).jpg))*

Large tree, 75 to 100 feet, zones 7 to 10; full sun or part shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow slash 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 | Slash Pine |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Yellow slash pine, swamp pine, southern Florida pine, South Florida slash pine, Dade County slash pine, Dade County pine |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 75 to 100 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 50 |
| Zones | 7 to 10 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, salt tolerant, erosion control |
| Pollen | January to April |
| Fruit | Cones, August to November |
| First crop | 10 to 15 years (occasionally as early as 3) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and is normally cross-pollinated, because a lone tree's own pollen gives little viable seed. |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 200 years. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | The coast, stream banks, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 6 states |

Slash pine is native in 6 states: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [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), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS) and [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC). 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 [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC) and [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), 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=slash-pine): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=slash-pine): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=slash-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=slash-pine): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=slash-pine): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=slash-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=slash-pine): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=slash-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=slash-pine): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=slash-pine): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=slash-pine): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Redbay](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/redbay/index.html.md) (*Persea borbonia*): medium tree, 30 to 60 feet, zones 7 to 10. Shares the coast, stream banks, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Pond Cypress](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pond-cypress/index.html.md) (*Taxodium ascendens*): medium tree, 30 to 70 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares the coast, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Pond Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pond-pine/index.html.md) (*Pinus serotina*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 7 to 9. Shares the coast, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Atlantic White Cedar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/atlantic-white-cedar/index.html.md) (*Chamaecyparis thyoides*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares the coast, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Devilwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devilwood/index.html.md) (*Cartrema americana*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares the coast, stream banks and sandy barrens in the wild.
- [Yaupon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yaupon/index.html.md) (*Ilex vomitoria*): small tree, 10 to 25 feet, zones 7 to 9. Shares the coast, stream banks and sandy barrens in the wild.
- [Every companion of slash pine in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=slash-pine)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, UF/IFAS Extension, the USDA PLANTS Database, the University of Georgia's forestry school and the US Forest Service.