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Scientific name: Pinus banksiana A.Lambert 1803
Synonyms: Pinus banksiana f. procumbens J.Rousseau, Pinus divaricata (hort. ex. Aiton) Dum.Cours., Pinus divaricata (hort. ex. Aiton) Sudw., Pinus divaricata f. procumbens (J.Rousseau) B.Boivin, Pinus hudsonica Poir., Pinus rupestris F.Michx., Pinus sylvestris var. divaricata hort. ex. Aiton
Common names: Jack pine, Black pine, Hudson Bay pine, Scrub pine, Princess pine, Banksian pine
Tree to 20(-27) m tall, with trunk to 0.5(-1) m in diameter, but often short and spindly in dense stands on nutrient poor soils. Bark bright orange-brown scaly when young, becoming dark gray and broken up into wavy, vertically elongate blocks separated by shallow furrows. Crown narrowly conical, with numerous short, horizontal or gently upswept branches. Thinly clothed with foliage, often retaining dead branches many years in crowded stands. Twigs yellowish brown initially but soon becoming grayish brown, hairless, roughened with scale leaves, often flushing twice in a single season. Buds 5-15 mm long, resinous. Needles in bundles of two, each needle 2-4(-5) cm long, stiff, sometimes slightly twisted, lasting 2-3 years, yellowish green. Individual needles with lines of stomates on both faces, a two-stranded midvein, and usually just two resin canals embedded in the green leaf tissue near the outer corners. Sheath 3-6 mm long, only the short outer scales remaining after the first season and persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones 10-15 mm long, yellowish brown. Seed cones 3-7 cm long, egg-shaped, slightly asymmetrical, and often curved forward toward the twig, with 50-80 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening orange-brown but then often remaining unopened for years, and turning gray, then only opening widely to release the seeds after a fire, almost stalkless. Seed scales wedge-shaped, woody and stiff, the exposed portion mostly low, but sometimes domed on lower scales of the outer side of the seed cone, with a small, central, diamond-shaped umbo sometimes bearing a tiny prickle. Seed body 3-5 mm long, the easily detachable wing 10-12 mm long.
The species name honors Joseph Banks (1743 - 1820), who participated in an important scientific expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador, which Jack pine does not quite reach.
Northern North America, from the McKenzie River near Great Bear Lake and central Alberta east to Nova Scotia and south to southern Wisconsin and Michigan. Usually forming dense, even-aged pure stands but also mixed with other trees on sandy, infertile sites in the boreal forest; 0-600(-800) m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
This is the most widespread and abundant species of pine in North America and is therefore assessed as Least Concern.
Pinus banksiana is a boreal to subarctic pine with a wide distribution in the lowlands of the North (max. alt. 800 m a.s.l.), where it reaches the Arctic tree line and merges with the tundra. Except for a small part of its range in Nova Scotia, it occurs in continental climate conditions with short, warm summers, and long, very cold winters and low precipitation, about half of it as snow. It grows mostly on dry, sandy soils but is also found on thin soils over granite or metamorphosed rock and on peat. This pine is highly adapted to fires, which are frequent in the taiga forests and can destroy vast areas of forest cover. Its serotinous cones rarely open without the heat of fire and remain for many years on the branches. Jack pine is the most successful coniferous pioneer after fire, producing seeds at an early age. It is often accompanied by Betula papyrifera or Populus tremuloides. Later successional phases may bring in Picea mariana especially in boggy situations, and Larix laricina, Picea glauca and Abies balsamea. On the southern line of its distribution Pinus banksiana can be a component of a more diverse mixed forest with Pinus resinosa and broadleaved trees such as Quercus spp. and Acer rubrum.
No specific threats have been identified for this species. Despite its relatively small size, Jack pine is an important timber tree for pulpwood, lumber and round timber, mainly because it is the most widely distributed species of pine in Canada and its pioneer ecology guarantees even-aged stands with high yields per ha even under natural conditions. Its wood is also used in carpentry and joinery, for containers, pallets and crates as well as particle-board. It was introduced to Europe in 1785, but has limited value in horticulture and is present only as specimen trees in most arboreta in countries or regions with a cool to cold climate. A few mutants, some from witches brooms, are grown as cultivars. Extensive planting in forestry has usually been associated with afforestation of poor sandy soils in northern regions; there it remained a small tree of irregular shape in most instances.
This species is known from several protected areas across its range.
Pinus banksiana ’1401 Bety’ Pinus banksiana ’1404 Martin Novak’ Pinus banksiana ’AA2’ Pinus banksiana ’Abs’ Pinus banksiana ’Al Johnson’ Pinus banksiana ’Ala’ Pinus banksiana ’Angel’ Pinus banksiana ’Annae’ Pinus banksiana ’Arctis’ Pinus banksiana ’Banská Stiavnica’ Pinus banksiana ’Beehive’ Pinus banksiana ’Broom’ Pinus banksiana ’Bush’s Twister’ Pinus banksiana ’Chippewa’ Pinus banksiana ’Compacta’ Pinus banksiana ’Cyrus’ Pinus banksiana ’Don Smith’ Pinus banksiana ’Elkin’s Dwarf’ Pinus banksiana ’Fastigiata’ Pinus banksiana ’Flach Creeper’ Pinus banksiana ’Freddy Krueger’ Pinus banksiana ’Gelbblaulig’ Pinus banksiana ’Girard Weeper’ Pinus banksiana ’Girard’s Weeper’ Pinus banksiana ’Głowno’ Pinus banksiana ’Gola’ Pinus banksiana ’Gosia’ Pinus banksiana ’Graveyard Witch’ Pinus banksiana ’Hexenbesen’ Pinus banksiana ’H. J. Welch’ Pinus banksiana ’Horstmann 7 Dwarfs’ Pinus banksiana ’Hwy 1 St. Louis’ Pinus banksiana ’Hwy 4 3679’ Pinus banksiana ’Hwy 4 8214’ Pinus banksiana ’Hwy 4 CT RD 1’ Pinus banksiana ’Jiskra’ Pinus banksiana ’Kimmerholz’ Pinus banksiana ’Kocourok’ Pinus banksiana ’Kokořín’ Pinus banksiana ’Lewandowski’ Pinus banksiana ’Manomet’ Pinus banksiana ’Martin Novák’ Pinus banksiana ’Meridosa’ Pinus banksiana ’Midge’ Pinus banksiana ’Mini Blato’ Pinus banksiana ’Mitch’ Pinus banksiana ’Nana’ Pinus banksiana ’Neponset’ Pinus banksiana ’Nidiformis’ Pinus banksiana ’Osm’ Pinus banksiana ’Park 13 Broom’ Pinus banksiana ’Pendula’ Pinus banksiana ’Pospisil’ Pinus banksiana ’Potters’ Pinus banksiana ’Prairie Union’ Pinus banksiana ’Repens’ Pinus banksiana ’Rochester’ Pinus banksiana ’Roshana’ Pinus banksiana ’Schneverdingen’ Pinus banksiana ’Schoodic’ Pinus banksiana ’Schoodic Point’ Pinus banksiana ’Skolka’ Pinus banksiana ’Sparky’ Pinus banksiana ’Stara Tura’ Pinus banksiana ’Stubka’ Pinus banksiana ’Szuma’ Pinus banksiana ’Tear Drop’ Pinus banksiana ’Thomson’ Pinus banksiana ’Tucker’s Dwarf’ Pinus banksiana ’Uncle Fogy’ Pinus banksiana ’Věžka’ Pinus banksiana ’Vladar’ Pinus banksiana ’Watt’s Golden’ Pinus banksiana ’WB’ Pinus banksiana ’WB SDL Valenta’ Pinus banksiana ’Weeper’ Pinus banksiana ’Welch’ Pinus banksiana ’Westhawk Lake’ Pinus banksiana ’Winnipek’ Pinus banksiana ’Wisconsin’
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