The heartwood of ponderosa pine is light reddish brown,
and the wide sapwood is nearly white to pale yellow. The
wood of the outer portions of ponderosa pine of sawtimber
size is generally moderately light in weight, moderately low
in strength, moderately soft, moderately stiff, and moder-
ately low in shock resistance. It is generally straight grained
and has moderately low shrinkage. It is quite uniform in
texture and has little tendency to warp and twist.
Ponderosa pine has been used mainly for lumber and to a
lesser extent for piles, poles, posts, mine timbers, veneer,
and railroad crossties. The clear wood is used for sashes,
doors, blinds, moulding, paneling, interior woodwork, and
built-in cases and cabinets. Low-grade lumber is used for
boxes and crates. Knotty ponderosa pine is used for interior
woodwork.
Pine, Red
Red pine (Pinus resi‑
nosa) is frequently called
Norway pine. This spe-
cies grows in New Eng-
land, New York, Penn-
sylvania, and the Great
Lake States.
The heartwood of red
pine varies from pale red to reddish brown. The sapwood is
nearly white with a yellowish tinge and is generally from 5
to 10 cm (2 to 4 in.) wide. The wood resembles the lighter
weight wood of the Southern Pine species group. Red pine
is moderately heavy, moderately strong and stiff, moderate-
ly soft, and moderately high in shock resistance. It is gener-
ally straight grained, not as uniform in texture as eastern
white pine (P. strobus), and somewhat resinous. The wood
has moderately high shrinkage, but it is not difficult to dry
and is dimensionally stable when dried.
Red pine is used principally for lumber, cabin logs, and
pulpwood, and to a lesser extent for piles, poles, posts, and
fuel. The lumber is used for many of the same purposes
as for eastern white pine (P. strobus). Red pine lumber is
used primarily for building construction, including treated
lumber for decking, siding, flooring, sashes, doors, general
millwork, and boxes, pallets, and crates.
Pine, Southern Group
A number of species are
included in the group
marketed as Southern
Pine lumber. The four
major Southern Pine
species and their growth
ranges are as follows:
(a) longleaf pine (Pinus
palustris), eastern Northproduced primarily in the central Rocky Mountain States;
other producing regions are Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and
Washington.
The heartwood of lodgepole pine varies from light yellow
to light yellow-brown. The sapwood is yellow or nearly
white. The wood is generally straight grained with narrow
growth rings. The wood is moderately lightweight, is fairly
easy to work, and has moderately high shrinkage. It is mod-
erately low in strength, moderately soft, moderately stiff,
and moderately low in shock resistance.
Lodgepole pine has been used for lumber, mine timbers,
railroad crossties, and poles. Less important uses include
posts and fuel. Lodgepole pine is being used increasingly
for structural lumber, millwork, cabinet logs, and engi-
neered wood composites.
Pine, Pitch and Pond
Pitch pine (Pinus
rigida) grows from
Maine along the moun-
tains to eastern Ten-
nessee and northern
Georgia. A relative of
pitch pine (considered
by some to be a
subspecies), pond
pine (P. serotina) grows in the coastal region from
New Jersey to Florida.
The heartwood is brownish red or dark orange and resinous;
the sapwood is wide and light yellow. The wood is moder-
ately heavy to heavy, moderately strong, stiff, and hard, and
moderately high in shock resistance. Shrinkage ranges from
moderately low to moderately high.
Pitch and pond pine are used for general construction, lum-
ber, posts, poles, fuel, and pulpwood.
Pine, Ponderosa
Ponderosa pine (Pinus
ponderosa) is also
known as western yel-
low, bull, and blackjack
pine. Jeffrey pine
(P. jeffreyi), which grows
in close association
with ponderosa pine in
California and Oregon,
is usually marketed with
ponderosa pine and sold under that name. Major ponderosa
pine producing areas are in Oregon, Washington, and Cali-
fornia. Other important producing areas are in Idaho and
Montana; lesser amounts come from the southern Rocky
Mountain region, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and
Wyoming.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR– 190