Eastern White Pine - Pinus strobus
White Pine is the state tree of Maine and Michigan. The needles are soft, flexible and bluish to silver green in color and are regularly arranged in bundles of five. Needles are 2 1/2 - 5 inches long and are usually shed at the end of the second growing season. Cone scales are thin and have exudations of a fragrant gummy resin. Needle retention is good to excellent. White pine has very little aroma, but, conversely, is reported to result in fewer allergic reactions than do some of the more aromatic species. White pine range, from Newfoundland to northern Georgia and South Carolina. It can be found from sea level in its northern range to 5000 feet in the Appalachian Mountains. Early native-Americans used the inner bark as food, with colonists later using the inner bark as an ingredient in cough remedies.