Slash Pine

Pinus elliottii Engelm.

PIE-nus ell-ee-OTT-ee-eye

Conifers - Pinaceae

Explanation of name: Generic name an ancient Latin name (WH1). Specific epithet commemorates Stephen Elliott (1771-1830), South Carolina botanist (WH1).

Natural range: Southeastern U.S. This is the dominant pine of South Florida. (Pinus clausa (Chapm. ex Englm.) Vasey ex Sarg. is the Sand Pine in scrub habitats.)

Recognition (with data from WH1): Except for Sand Pine, essentially the only true pine in South florida. (Australian “Pine” is not a pine…see Casuarinaceae). Slash Pine has its needles usually in pairs (sometimes 3), 12-28 cm long and cones 7-15 cm long. (Needles in Sand Pine 5-9 cm, its cones 4-6 cm long.)      Some botanists interpret the south Florida Slash Pine as a separate species, P. densa (Little & K. W. Dorman) Gaussen ex de Laubenfels & Silba. However, the variation is clinal and not sufficient for recognition of two species (WH1, citing previous work).

Landscape uses: Slash Pine is the main landscaping pine in our area, more often persisting from forest remnants than planted. In the contemporary landscape this species often suffers from combinations of altered water regimes, artificial fertilization, needle loss, and pine bark beetles. The species is probably strongly mycorrhizal and adapted to a natural water regime, spodosol soils with hardpans, and is mismatched to many irrigated, fertilized, drained suburban yards.