Description
Pines are evergreen, coniferous resinous trees. The bark of pines is thick and scaly. Pines are long-lived, typically reaching ages of 100–1,000 years, or even more.
They are fast-growing
Softwoods that will grow in relatively dense stands, their acidic decaying needles inhibiting the sprouting of competing
Hardwoods. In mixed forests, this dominant tree towers over all others, including the large broadleaf
Hardwoods.
Obtainment
Common: It prefers well-drained soil and cool, humid
Forests, but can also grow in
Swamps and rocky
Mountains.
Uses
Main Article:
Wood
- Pines are among the most commercially important of tree species, valued for their timber and wood pulp.
- Pine timber is denser, more resinous, and therefore more durable than Spruce.
- Pine wood was widely used in high-value carpentry items such as furniture, window frames, panelling, floors and roofing. However, its wood tends to be knotty.
- Pine is considered the highest quality wood for the mast of a ship.
Medicinal
- The pine resin is used to treat infections and even gangrenous wounds.
- Pine tar mixed with beer can be used to remove tapeworms (flat worms) or nematodes (round worms).
- Pine tar mixed with sulfur is useful to treat dandruff.
Food
- Pines have large seeds, called pine nuts, that are harvested and eaten.
- The soft, moist, white inner bark found clinging to the woody outer bark is edible and very high in vitamins. It can be eaten raw in slices as a snack or dried and ground up into a powder for use as a thickener in stews, soups, and other foods, such as Vestari pine bark bread (pettuleipä).
Pine Tar and Resin
- Pine resin is used to waterproof baskets, pails, and boats.
- Pine tar is produced by slowly burning pine roots, branches, or small trunks in a partially smothered flame.
- Pine tar has medicinal uses and can also be processed to make turpentine.
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