An Ancient Genus with 100+ Species
Pinus is one of the oldest genera on the planet and it's species are found on every corner of the globe. The variety of technical properties however is staggering and the dramatic differences can be traced back to an evolutionary branching into 2 sub-genera. The White Pines and the Yellow Pines each went their separate ways as a way of finding a competitive advantage over the emerging angiosperms who were superior survivalists. What better way to compete by finding a while new playing ground. The Pines went where the hardwoods feared to tread and have thrived for millions of years.
For a really great read on this evolutionary divison and how fire adaptation plays into it, check out this paper written by John Keeley in the Annals of Forest Science.
What this episode is NOT about is the construction lumber trade. The SPF or Spruce/Pine/Fir products surprisingly are mostly Spruce and Fir with very little Pine. Regardless these trees have their own market and trade practices and many of the species discussed in this discussion don't directly relate to the SPF product lines.
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Hi Shannon, Stephen here, and thanks so much for answering my question a couple episodes back about the differences between nominal wood properties and those grown in a different way. I appreciate the insight and wonder what other species have similar differences….?
Now for a long windup to a question. Listening to this week’s episode about pine, you mentioned how Torrey Pine is frequently 2nd, 3rd, or 4th growth from a city planting. Ages back (relatively speaking) in your episode on different types of forest management you mentioned how coppicing (sp?) is frequently used in the UK to get useful sizes of lumber from a tree by cutting the tree somewhat above ground level and letting it grow back from the roots. I’ve never seen the foresight from a city to do this, but could this be a useful tool in urban lumber management? Furthermore, I live in North Georgia, where old growth hasn’t been around for a couple hundred years, and even the old trees today are generally less than 100 years old, growing back from land cleared for farming. As such there are a ton of trees, but not a lot of large, lumber quality hardwoods. Would coppicing be a better management tool here than the selective harvesting and clear cutting I often see? What about for softwoods? Have you seen the picture of the gnarly old tree in Japan with the hundred perfectly straight shoots popping up out of it? Is that feasible with the pines here?
Sorry for the rambling question, but it’s your fault for making me think!
Thanks, Stephen
Hi Shannon, I really enjoy your informative site!! Do you still send out a newsletter? It seems that I have not received one in quite sometime.
Hope all is well,
Cheers!
Ken Moon
Yep there is an email triggered by the RSS feed that goes out with each episode. I’ll double check that you are still on the list.