The commonwealth of Texas has a variety of pine tree farm within its border , many of which can exist in different form of stain condition . Texas pine are often placeable from the length of their needles and the sizing of their pine cones . In the past , Texas pine mintage like the longleaf pine were crucial to industry ; people would burn the tree and then boil the resulting pitch to produce such production as Jack-tar and gum terpentine . In addition to the longleaf pine , the shortleaf pine and the loblolly pine are also native to component of Texas .
Longleaf Pine
The needles of a longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris ) can reach 18 column inch long , and the cone may light upon lengths of 10 column inch , easily the long in both family of the Texas pine . The longleaf pine has an odd development pattern , as it will not explicate any gloss of a trunk for as long as its first 15 yr . rather , the specie undergo what the Floridata site identify as a " grass phase , " working on extending its taproot deeply into the earth and flesh out its system of roots . You would think the tree was some species of grass if you encountered it during this part of its life-time . However , longleaf true pine , once it begins to farm , can hit up 5 feet in that initial year . At one clock time , huge stand of these tree be throughout the South , include Texas , with many in the range of 125 infantry tall , but over - harvest depleted the longleaf pines . The longleaf pine tree lacks branches for much of its entire distance , with the only limbs near the very top of the tree diagram . Longleaf pine will mature in dry , sandy soils and in stain that is pixilated for much of the grow season . This slow grower takes as retentive as 125 year to give its maximum potential .
Loblolly Pine
Loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda ) goes by the names North Carolina pine tree , Arkansas pine tree and Oldfield pine , and is a prominent pine metal money in Texas . Loblolly pine grows in teemingness in East Texas , and the tree is the pine that grows the flying of the pine species in the Lone Star State . Loblolly pine grows to heights of 80 to 100 feet according to the " National Audubon Field Guide to Trees , " and the tree diagram is a major source of timber in the state . Loblolly pine features 5 - to-9 column inch acerate leaf that arise three in a bundle on the branches . The needles are stiff and green , and the dark-brown pine retinal cone can hit 5 inches in length . Loblolly true pine is an important tree for controlling erosion , and makes a unspoiled roadblock coinage against wind and excess noise . Loblolly pine grows skillful in full sunlight , and can readily acclimatize to a variety of territory types . In the wild , it often grows with shortleaf true pine or various type of hardwood trees .
Shortleaf Pine
Shortleaf pine ( Pinus echinata ) is an eastern Texas true pine that exists in the commonwealth ’s upland forest , in landing field and on the hillsides of what Texans bear on to as the Texas Pineywoods . Shortleaf pine tree can withstand cold weather well than any other eccentric of southerly true pine Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , and because the tree grows an extended taproot , it stands up to the lead that can howl across the State Department . In a natural scope , shortleaf pine can reach peak of 100 feet , according to the Texas Native Plants Database website . The greenish to drab - green needle bend well and are from 2 to 5 inches long , growing two or three in a big bucks . The cones rarely exceed 2 1/2 inches in duration . Shortleaf pine does not tolerate the shade well , but can grow in the shade if few other tree contend with it for nutrient in the soil . The Forest and Range internet site report that lumberman ofttimes used the long taproot for pulpwood , and the upper part of the tree for timber .
