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Sometimes called “Norway Pine”, the Red Pine from a distance is often confused with a White Pine. It is fairly simple to distinguish the two. The White Pine’s needles grow in clusters of five, whereas the Red Pine’s needles grow in clusters of two. This coniferous tree prefers to live on outwash plains, level or gently rolling plains and low ridges adjacent to lakes and swamps. You will often find them growing in very exposed locations, on islands, peninsulas, east shores of lakes and steep slopes. Because these trees are situated near lakes and rivers they are able to live longer and less likely to be destroyed by forest fires. The water acts as a natural firebreak and keeps the temperatures low enough to allow the mature trees to survive. These fires clear the ground cover and prepare a seedbed so the new seeds are free to grow.
The Red Pine commonly grows to 21-24 metres but can grow to almost 46 metres on really good sites. Cones are usually about 5 cm long, without prickles, and remain attached to the tree until the following year. Similar to the other two pines the Red Pine is more common in the eastern parts of the Algonquin Highlands.
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