shortleaf pine
Pinus echinata
A genus split is not a placement verdict.
Is this one for your yard?
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No, shortleaf pine is not fire resistant; published assessments consistently classify it as highly flammable or Not Firewise.
Across six assessments, the USDA Forest Service and state Firewise programs, NC State Extension, Ohio State University Extension, and Virginia Cooperative Extension agree that it should be avoided near structures.
The rating systems differ, but each reaches the same practical conclusion. The eastern Firewise selector gives shortleaf pine a 4, “Not Firewise,” on its four-point scale. NC State sources rate it high in systems where high-flammability plants are to be avoided. Ohio State assigns H, the fourth band on its five-band scale, where both H and VH warrant avoidance. Virginia gives it H on a three-point scale describing how fire-prone plants are. Although every evergreen tree and shrub in Virginia’s list receives H, shortleaf pine is still directly included in that rating.
A deep taproot makes shortleaf pine difficult to transplant, as both Ohio State and Virginia note. It reaches about 50 feet at maturity. The practical choice is to keep shortleaf pine away from structures.
- Form
- tree
- Mature height
- ~50 ft
- Light
- Full sun
- Water need
- moderate
- Rated in
- Global; NC; North Carolina; North Carolina / southeastern US +3
