{"id":21882,"date":"2023-04-11T14:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T18:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=21882"},"modified":"2025-07-31T11:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T15:40:21","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-jack-pine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-jack-pine\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Jack Pine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.<\/p>\n

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Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a> to help visualize each\u00a0species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we meet the Jack pine, or\u00a0Pinus banksiana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This conifer, also known as scrub pine, has clusters of two dark green needles, which are one to one and a half inches long, noticeably curved or arched like a bow and slightly twisted.<\/p>\n

Bark on the jack pine is dark to medium gray, thin and flaky when young and features thick plates in older trees. This tree growth irregularly and can produce between one and three whorls of side branches annually. It tends to have a much lighter crown than white pine or the spruces.<\/p>\n

The cones of jack pine are one to three inches long and remain closed while on the tree unless disturbed by a heat event such as fire. The cones may also be curved and twisted into many irregular shapes and tend to stay on the tree for many years.<\/p>\n