Editor's note: Once a month, the OSU Extension master gardener's office of Franklin County profiles a plant that occurs naturally in central Ohio.

Few sights are more welcome in an Ohio winter than crisp evergreen boughs draped with fresh white snow. There are many needle-bearing conifers such as spruce and fir in landscapes, with six natives gracing Ohio woods, including the elusive yew and larch, red cedar and white cedar, eastern hemlock and pine. Pinus strobus, or white pine, is one of four native pines and the largest northeastern conifer.

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Pines are distinguished from other conifers by their long needle-like leaves (in contrast to overlapping scales or single short needles) that remain green through the winter into the next growing season.

The Arbor Day Foundation refers to white pine as, “the fabled tree eagerly sought by the first wave of loggers in America” and author Michael Dirr says, “If I had to choose one pine for general landscape use, Pinus strobus would be it.” This valuable tree is widely distributed in central and eastern Canada and northeastern America (south to Georgia) and is the state tree of Maine and Michigan. In Ohio, it originally grew only in the northeast part of the state and is now found throughout the state. 

For 300 years, white pine was unrivaled as a timber-producing tree and perhaps no other tree has had such a profound career. It even had its place in the Revolutionary War where early colonialists clashed with Britain’s claim of virgin stands of white pine for its naval ships. The strong, light, rot-resistant, easily workable wood was utilized for railroads, matches, pulp, looms, roof shingles, bobsleds, cheap furniture, covered bridges and home construction — in every sort of millwork, white pine reigned supreme while it lasted. 

Because pines grow in snow-heavy regions, they were once sledded with oxen to rivers where they floated lightly to abundant mills. By one account, a raft that passed Cincinnati covered 3 acres.

White pine grows 50 to 80 feet with a straight trunk and deeply furrowed bark. One whorl of horizontal branches is added every year, eventually forming a beautifully broad irregular canopy over time. Medium-green soft needles are about 5 inches long, in clusters of five.

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Conifers evolved prior to more sophisticated flowering trees and are wind-pollinated rather than insect, moving pollen from male cones to female cones. Both are found on the same tree, but the larger female cones are borne higher up on the branches than male cones that appear in the spring to encourage cross-pollination. It provides food and habitat for numerous species and is an excellent specimen tree for large areas.

Maintenance: New shoots (candles) can be pinched back for a bushier growth pattern. Intolerant of air pollution, alkaline soils and salt spray.

Propagation: Seedlings transplant well and grow quickly. Seeds can be collected from mature, dry cones. Good seed production occurs when trees are at least 20 years old. 

Pests and diseases: Weevil, blister rust (when grown with host plants in gooseberry family) and blight. Deer and rabbit browse soft shoots.