Tree · Pinaceae
Longleaf pine
Pinus palustris
Longleaf pine is recorded as native to 9 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 232 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Longleaf pine at a glance
- Native in
- 232 counties, across 9 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 7a PLANTS minimum temperature −3°F
- Mature height
- 120 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 7a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −3°F; zone 7a winters bottom out at 0°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Longleaf pine is recorded as native to 9 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 232 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 232 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 41 counties
- Florida 57 counties
- Georgia 33 counties
- Louisiana 29 counties
- Mississippi 16 counties
- North Carolina 23 counties
- South Carolina 18 counties
- Texas 10 counties
- Virginia 5 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 120 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 6 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −3°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 7a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 250
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Brown
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Winter
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Pinaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PIPA2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Pinus palustris (PLANTS symbol PIPA2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources