Sand Pine

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iSand Pine

Sand Pine forest

Conservation status

Near Threatened (LR/nt)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Pinus
Subgenus:	Pinus
Species:	P. clausa

Binomial name

Pinus clausa
(Chapm. ex Engelm.) Sarg.

The Sand Pine (Pinus clausa) is a small, often shrubby tree from 5-10m, exceptionally to 21m tall, found in two separate locations, one across central peninsular Florida, and the other in the western Florida panhandle and the Alabama coast; there is a range gap of about 200km between the populations (from Apalachicola to Cedar Key). It is largely confined to very infertile, excessively well-drained, sandy habitats where competition from larger-growing species is minimised by the harsh growing conditions.

The leaves are needle-like, in pairs, 5-10 cm long, and its cones are 4-8 cm long. Over much of its range, it is fire-adapted to stand-replacing wildfires, with the cones remaining closed for many years (clausa = closed), until a natural forest fire kills the mature trees and opens the cones. These then reseed the burnt ground. Some populations differ in having cones that open at maturity, with seed dispersal not relying on fires.

Sand Pine woods are an important habitat for the endangered Florida Sand Skink.

The dense branching makes this tree unsuitable for wood production, and when used at all, it mainly is used for wood pulp.

This pine is also sometimes known as 'Scrub Pine', but this name more commonly refers to the closely related Pinus virginiana.