pine

Introduction
Uses
Physical description and natural history
Major Eurasian pines
Major North American pines

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Stone pine trees with rounded canopies stand amid low shrubs and flowering yellow bushes in Donana National Park, Huelva province, Andalusia, Spain.

Stack of freshly cut pine logs lies on the forest floor among tall trees in the Sonian Forest, Brussels, Belgium.

Close-up view of the rough, scaly bark of a loblolly pine tree, with other trees and blue sky visible in the background at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.

Two tall eastern white pines (Pinus strobus) stand on the grassy shore of Taylor Pond in Maine, with calm water and a distant treeline in the background.

At a Glance

Cluster of pollen-bearing male cones of Austrian (black) pine (Pinus nigra).

pine summary

Quizzes

Spreading oak tree in summer. (green, leaves, deciduous, shade)

Trees: Giants Holding the Sky

Field of baobab trees, Madagascar. (bottle tree)

Trees of the World

Venus's-flytrap. Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) one of the best known of the meat-eating plants. Carnivorous plant, Venus flytrap, Venus fly trap

Plants: From Cute to Carnivorous

Related Questions

Are all trees called pines members of the genus Pinus?
How are male and female pine cones produced on the same pine tree?
How are pine nuts used as food?
How are rosin and turpentine obtained from pine resin?
How do bark beetles affect pine trees?
How do pine cones release their seeds?
How do pine trees differ from spruce trees?
How do serotinous cones of lodgepole pines open after a wildfire?
How do the deep roots of a ponderosa pine help it survive?
How does the bark of a young pine tree differ from the bark of an older pine tree?
How does wind carry pine pollen to female cones?
How is pine oil produced from pine trees?
How large can sugar pine trees become?
How long can pine needles remain on a tree?
How many needles are found in a soft pine bundle?
How many species are included in the genus Pinus?
How tall can a ponderosa pine grow?
How tall can an eastern white pine grow on rich soil?
What are common uses of rosin?
What are pine oil's industrial uses?
What traditional uses did Indigenous peoples make of ponderosa pine?
When does fertilization occur after pine pollen reaches a female cone?
Where did eastern white pine forests historically grow in North America?
Where do Great Basin bristlecone pines grow?
Where does the ponderosa pine grow in North America?
Where is the Torrey pine found?
Which animals eat pine seeds?
Which fungal disease is especially harmful to pine trees?
Which insects commonly attack pine trees?
Which pine species are classified as soft pines?
Which pine species produces the longest cones?
Why are pine forests especially combustible?
Why are pine trees important to the construction and paper industries?
Why do bristlecone pines often look gnarled and partly dead?
Why do many pine forests depend on fire for regeneration?
Why do many pine species need full sunlight for successful growth and reproduction?
Why do pine pollen grains have two air bladders?
Why is longleaf pine timber valuable?
Why is ponderosa pine wood important to the lumber industry?
Why was eastern white pine an important North American timber tree?
What is a mango?
Where do mango trees grow?
What is the significance of photosynthesis by plants?

Science Plants Conifers & Other Gymnosperms

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External Websites

The Royal Society Publishing - Royal Society Open Science - A biogeographic perspective on the evolution of fire syndromes in pine trees (Pinus: Pinaceae)
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Pinus Species as Prospective Reserves of Bioactive Compounds with Potential Use in Functional FoodÂ—Current State of Knowledge
Ohio State University Extension - Ohioline - Is it Pine, Spruce, or Fir?
Milne Publishing - Pinus: pine trees
Clemson Cooperative Extension - Home and Garden Information Center - Pine
Government of Western Australia - Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions - Growing Pines for wood products (PDF)
American Conifer Society - Pine
Michigan State University - College of Agriculture and Natural Resources - The Pines (PDF)
The Spruce - 40 Species of Pines From Around the World
North Dakota State University - Pines for North Dakota
The Gymnosperm Database - Pinus (pine)

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

pine - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
pine - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

pine

plant genus

Also known as: Pinus

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Sep. 24, 2026 •History

pine, (genus Pinus), genus of about 115 species of economically and ecologically important evergreen conifers (family Pinaceae), native primarily to northern temperate regions. Pines and other conifers are key members of the taiga (boreal forests), coniferous forests, and mixed forests throughout the world. Many pine species are iconic or characteristic constituents of a number of specific ecosystems, such as the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem of the southern United States. Like all trees, the plants...

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