Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)

Longleaf pines are tall pine trees (25-40 m or 75-120 ft) with straight trunks and thick, twisted branches. As the name suggests, very long pine needles (20-45 cm or 8-18 in) droop in clusters at the ends of the branches. You can often pick out a longleaf pine by its "silvery" glow. Longleaf pines seem to take on a silver shine in bright sunlight.

The landscape of the southeast has changed greatly since the arrival of early American settlers. In the 1700's, the southeastern Coastal Plain was covered by 90 million acres of longleaf pine forests. Now, less than 3 million acres remain. The forests were cut down between 1870 and 1930 for timber and marine stores.

In order to preserve the remaining longleaf pine forests, people are working to conserve and manage the remaining forested areas. The main methods they use to manage the forests are tree replanting, tree thinning (removing small trees to enhance the survivorship of larger, older trees), and fire ecology. In order to preserve an area in its natural state, the forest managers must also protect the rare, native species and prevent non-native species from invading the forest.

Now, not only are longleaf pines threatened, but many of the animals that live in longleaf pine forest are threatened, too. Longleaf pine forest provides rare habitat for over 300 rare, threatened, and endangered plants and animals, including gopher tortoises, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and a dicerandra plant found nowhere else in the world.