Crown is open, irregular, oval to pyramidal with ascending branches. Needles are 8 -12 inches long, 2 or 3 per fascicle (bundle). The cones are 3 - 6 inches in length and to 3 inches in diameter with fine prickles on the tips of the scales. Slash pine has a straight trunk, the grey scaly bark has large orange-brown plates and is deeply fissured.
Today millions of slash pines are planted each year to replace those harvested for lumber, pulp wood and rosen. Navy also employed thousands of workers to collect and process this resin into waterproofing material. Early pioneers cut slashes in the trunk to collect the pine resin to produce turpentine, hence the common name of slash pine. This is and has been a valuable natural resource for Florida. Bald eagles nest in large slash pines, and seeds from cones are a food source for squirrels, wild turkey as well as white-tailed deer. densa Slash pine is a large fast growing native evergreen conifer found throughout Florida that can attain 75 - 100 feet in height and a 3 to 4 ft. Slash Pine, Yellow Pine - Pinus elliottii var.
