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Jack Pine

Jack pine
Pinus banksiana.jpg
A young jack pine
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Subgenus: Pinus
Species: P. banksiana
Binomial name
Pinus banksiana
Lamb.
Pinus banksiana range map.png
Native range
Synonyms
  • Pinus divaricata (Aiton) Dum.Cours.
  • Pinus divaricata (Aiton) Sudw. nom. illeg.
  • Pinus hudsonica Poir.
  • Pinus rupestris Michx.f.
  • Pinus sylvestris var. divaricata Aiton

Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and northeast of the United States from Minnesota to Maine, with the southernmost part of the range just into northwest Indiana and northwest Pennsylvania. It is also known as grey pine and scrub pine.

In the far west of its range, Pinus banksiana hybridizes readily with the closely related lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). The species epithet banksiana is after the English botanist Sir Joseph Banks.

Pinus banksiana ranges from 9–22 m (30–72 ft) in height. Some jack pines are shrub-sized, due to poor growing conditions. They do not usually grow perfectly straight, resulting in an irregular shape similar to pitch pine (Pinus rigida). This pine often forms pure stands on sandy or rocky soil. It is fire-adapted to stand-replacing fires, with the cones remaining closed for many years, until a forest fire kills the mature trees and opens the cones, reseeding the burnt ground.

The leaves are in fascicles of two, needle-like, twisted, slightly yellowish-green, and 2–4 cm (341 12 in) long.

Jack pine cones are usually 5 cm (2 in) and curved at the tip. The cones are 3–5 cm (1 14–2 in) long, the scales with a small, fragile prickle that usually wears off before maturity, leaving the cones smooth.


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Wikipedia

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