| Lost Pines Forest | |
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| — Forest — | |
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Lost Pines Forest
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The Lost Pines Forest is a 13-mile (21 km) belt of loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) near Bastrop in Central Texas. The stand of pines is unique in Texas because it is a disjunct population of trees that is more than 100 miles (160 km) separated from, and yet closely genetically related to, the vast expanse of pine trees of the East Texas Piney Woods. It is thought to have originated as part of a much larger pine forest that shrank in size during the last glacial period of the Pleistocene era.
A portion of the Lost Pines is located inside the boundaries of Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park, which ensure the trees are protected from development and logging. However, a large portion of the forest was burned down in the 2011 Bastrop County Complex fire.