Large, evergreen, needle- and cone-bearing tree with lovely plated bark. The trunk is long and the pyramidal shape becomes more broad, opening up as the tree matures. With 3-5″ scented blue-green needles, usually in bundles of two, sometimes pleasantly audible in the wind. Many birds and small mammals eat the seeds produced by mature trees, and can take shelter in the branches. Native across much of the southeastern U.S., it is the only pine native to Missouri; the Ozarks’ extensive shortleaf pine stands had been mostly logged by the 1920s.

Shortleaf pine trees in a 30 year old planting. Photo: Scott Woodbury.