The scrub pine that does what nothing else will. The tree that reclaims the land. Pinus virginiana, the Virginia Pine or Scrub Pine, is the pioneer conifer of the central and southern Appalachians and Piedmont, the first pine to establish on abandoned fields, eroded slopes, strip-mined land, and exhausted agricultural soils where no other tree will grow, fixing the ground, building organic matter, and creating the conditions that allow the forest to return. It grows naturally on the most difficult, nutrient-poor, acidic soils in the eastern United States and has been one of the most important trees for reforestation of degraded Appalachian landscapes for over a century. Its irregular, somewhat windswept growth habit gives individual specimens a character and naturalness that more uniform conifers lack, and its small, persistent cones provide seeds for crossbills and other wildlife through winter. If you are looking to buy Virginia Pine seeds or grow this native pioneer from seed, this is the tree that builds soil where there is none and holds ground that everything else has given up on. The primary pioneer conifer of the central and southern Appalachians, establishing on the most difficult soils Used extensively for reforestation of strip-mined and eroded land across the Appalachian region Tolerates extremely poor, acidic, dry, rocky soils where most other conifers fail entirely Provides the only Christmas tree option native to the central Appalachians and upper South Small persistent cones providing winter food for crossbills, siskins, and chickadees Things you probably did not know about the Virginia Pine It was the primary Christmas tree in the Appalachians before commercial Christmas tree farming. Virginia Pine grows naturally in the exact regions of the upper South and central Appalachians where Christmas tree farming was not historically practiced, and families across those regions cut wild Virginia Pines from old fields and roadsides for Christmas trees for generations. The irregular, characterful growth habit of wild Virginia Pine was accepted, even preferred, as a genuine expression of the natural local forest rather than the uniform perfection of commercial cultivars. The tree has been used to stabilize and restore strip-mined land for over 60 years. The Appalachian coal mining region, which includes some of the most severely disturbed landscapes in eastern North America, has used Virginia Pine as a primary reforestation species on reclaimed mine sites because it establishes on the compacted, acidic, nutrient-poor spoil heaps that other trees cannot colonize. Millions of Virginia Pines planted on former mining sites across Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia represent one of the largest ecological restoration projects in American history. The needles are arranged in pairs and are shorter and more twisted than most eastern pines. Virginia Pine needles are among the shortest of any eastern two-needled pine, typically 1.5 to 3 inches long and distinctly twisted along their length. The short, twisted needles give the foliage a coarser, more bristly texture than Eastern White Pine or Loblolly Pine, which contributes to the rougher, more rugged visual character of the tree in the landscape. It is one of only two native pines in Maryland and Delaware. The range of Virginia Pine extends into the coastal plain and Piedmont of Maryland and Delaware, where it and Eastern White Pine are the only native pine species present. In this northern portion of its range, Virginia Pine occupies the same disturbed, poor-soil pioneer niche it fills further south, appearing on roadsides, power line cuts, and abandoned agricultural land throughout the region. Growing Details Botanical Name: Pinus virginiana Stratification: Recommended, 30 to 60 days cold stratification USDA Zones: 4 to 8 Soil: Extremely adaptable, thrives on poor, acidic, dry, rocky, or sandy soils Light: Full sun Height: 15 to 40 feet Spread: 10 to 30 feet Growth Rate: Moderate, 1 to 1.5 feet per year on poor soils, faster on better sites Plant it where nothing else will grow and let it do the work of rebuilding the soil for whatever comes after it. That is the job it was made for and it does it better than anything else available.
