Maryland Native Trees
Pinus virginiana – Virginia Pine
Pinus virginiana, Virginia Pine, is a host plant for various moth species including Wenzel’s Pitch-blister Moth and Eastern Pine Elfin. Virginia pine is a straggling, scrubby looking evergreen that is usually 15-40 ft. tall, becoming flat-topped with age. Outstretched limbs spring irregularly from the reddish-brown trunk. Cones are sharp to the touch due to prickly-like appendages. This is a short-needled tree with an open, broad, irregular crown of long spreading branches; often seen as a shrub.
Virginia Pine is used as pulpwood and lumber, it is hardier than most pines and suitable for planting in poor, dry areas. This evergreen pine is common in old and grassy fields on hills of the Piedmont. This plant grows rapidly and forms thickets. Valuable to birds for winter cover and food. A variety of wildlife including squirrels, rabbits, and deer use the cones as a food source.
Virginia pine with cone