Video:Common North American Trees With Needle Clusters

Transcript:Common North American Trees With Needle Clusters

Hi, I'm Jacob Taxis for About.com. In this video, you will learn about common North American trees with needle clusters.

List of Common Trees With Needle Clusters

The common North American trees with needle clusters are:

• Eastern White Pine
• Western White Pine
• Sugar Pine
• Red Pine
• Pitch Pine
• Longleaf Pine
• Shortleaf Pine
• Loblolly Pine
• Slash Pine
• Virginia Pine
• Ponderosa Pine
• Pinyon Pine
• Jeffrey Pine
• Lodgepole Pine
• Tamarack
• Western Larch

Common Needle Cluster Trees: Ponderosa Pine

Today, we'll be looking at three common trees with needle clusters: the Ponderosa pine, the Red pine, and the Tamarack. First, the Ponderosa pine – also known as the Western Yellow pine, the Ponderosa pine can grow to well over 180 feet tall and some have been known to live for more than 500 years. The trunk of the Ponderosa is usually around 6 feet in diameter with a bark made up of long, irregular scales. As for color, the bark is usually a yellowish-grey or brownish-red.

If you think you've come across a Ponderosa pine, check out the forest floor beneath it. Ponderosas leave a lot of pieces of bark on the ground around it. Its greyish-green needles come in groups of 3 and are approximately 10 to 20 centimeters in length. They have sharp-toothed edges at the ends. Reddish-brown in color, Ponderosa cones are wide and shaped much like eggs with scales. At the end of each scale is a sharp point facing down.

Common Needle Cluster Trees: Red Pine

Second, the Red pine – also known as the Norway pine, the Red pine is most commonly found in the northeastern and central U.S. and parts of Canada. Unlike our first tree, Red pine needles come in groups of two. The reddish-brown wood of this beautiful tree is commonly used for timber.

Common Needle Cluster Trees: Tamarack

Third, the Tamarack – found in a sweeping stretch of habitat from the northeastern U.S. to Alaska, the Tamarack is the most common Larch species in North America. It's a remarkably sturdy tree, easily handling the toughest of winters. The Tamarack's needles come in bunches of 10 to 20 and, like the Baldcypress, it loses these needles every autumn.

Generally, with most North American cluster needle trees, you'll find two to five needles per cluster. Needles store water and heat for much longer than leaves do. In a process called photosynthesis, needles produce the tree's food – mainly consisting of sugars and starches.

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