Size

• The southern yellow pine grows to heights between 80 and 100 feet, states the Virginia Department of Forestry website. The needles can be as long as a foot and a half, and the pinecones this tree produces average between 6 and 10 inches in length. The tree can live for as long as 300 years under ideal conditions, and at one time, huge stands of this tree covered as many as 60 million acres in the Deep South before the effects of logging.
  
  

Identification

• A southern yellow pine is identifiable by its needles. The long green needles grow in bundles of threes. The needles remain on the branches for about two years before replacements grow in. The long cone has a grayish-brown shade and the ends of the scales that cover it have a small prickle on them. The bark of the southern yellow pine is thick and has a red-brown color.
  
  

Seedlings

• Once the seeds of yellow pine germinate and the plant takes hold, it does not grow like a typical pine. The first few years of its life find it in the form of a grass-like clump, with its thick needles looking like grass growing up from the ground. During years three to seven of the long leaf pine's development, the tree puts down a deep taproot. After the root is solidly entrenched, the tree starts to grow. The tree will resist the effects of fire once it reaches 8 feet in height.
  
  

Uses

• The traditional usage of the southern yellow pine focused on supplying pitch, resins, turpentine and tar for naval vessels and their construction. However, the modern use of the tree involves the long leaf pine becoming pilings and telephone poles, with its wood turned into lumber and plywood. The wood's durability and strength are major assets. The seeds that fall from the cones are favorite foods for wildlife such as turkeys and squirrels.
  
  

Geography

• The southern yellow pine exists from extreme southern New Jersey through eastern parts of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. The tree exists in the northern two-thirds of Florida, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees." Most of Alabama, southern Mississippi, parts of Louisiana and eastern Texas are also home to this pine, which grows under many conditions, including well-draining sandy ground.