Slash Pine Tree

The Slash Pine tree is a native, southeastern shade tree that prefers humid climates, and both the pine cones and the needles of the Slash Pine tree are smaller than those of the Longleaf Pine but larger than those of the Loblolly Pine tree. The pinecone of the Slash Pine tree grows very sharp spikes around the edges that protect them from wildlife food searchers like turkeys and squirrels that love to eat the seeds. This valuable Pine Tree was best known by early American settlers as a fast growing tree that produced a high quality lumber, perfect for home construction, straight-grained, dense lumber that matures in only 30 years as compared to the extended 100 years for the long leaf pine. Slash pine trees are full of a sticky, clear fluid called turpentine that was a very valuable &bul; Naval Stores&bul; product during the World War when petroleum products were rationed, and the turpentine was used to thin oil-based paints, as a medicine, and for many other valuable purposes. Before the internet birth that made paper products less valuable, the slash pine trees were ground up and made into newsprint.