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The Tree

HomeWhat is Longleaf?The TreeLife Stages

Life Stages

Longleaf pine is the longest-lived of the southern pine species. Individual longleaf pines can reach 250 years in age (with trees in excess of 450 years old documented). To reach that point of old age the life history of longleaf pine can be described in several stages.

lifestageinfographic_vertical

Seed

Falling from the tree’s cones in October to late November, longleaf seeds whirl to the forest floor but generally do not fall far from the tree due to their large size. Longleaf pine seeds are high in fats and are thus highly prized by seed predators like mice, birds, squirrels, and ants.

seedandseedling

Seeds that escape predation germinate within a few weeks once there is adequate soil moisture. Although seeds will germinate almost anywhere (on rocks, logs, forest mulch), they generally need to land on mineral soil to survive subsequent droughty periods.

Seedlings

New germinants will hang on to the wing from their seed as they start to show needles. The wing will eventually fall off as the needles push through. During this first stage, the seedlings are very susceptible to fire, drought and predation and will take upwards to a year to reach the next life stage.

The Grass Stage

This unique stage of a longleaf pine's life history resembles a clump of grass more than a tree, hence the name “grass stage.” The young trees will not grow in height; instead, grass stage longleaf focus their growth underground to develop an impressive root system.

grassstage

During the grass stage, a thick cluster of needles protects the growing tip (bud) while the tree remains at ground level. If a fire occurs, the needles may burn but the tip of the bud remains protected. New needles quickly replace those that were burned off. During the grass stage, longleaf pine seedlings are very resistant to fire damage.

The grass stage may last anywhere from one to seven years depending on the degree of competition with other plants for resources. Rare instances of 20 years have been documented.

The Bottlebrush Stage

When the root collar diameter (that area right at ground level) reaches 1 inch in a grass stage longleaf, the young tree will initiate height growth. Beginning in February to mid-March, a single, white growing tip will emerge upwards from the protective sheath of needles. This white tip, called a candle, may grow a few feet in just a few months. Green needles will then emerge from the candle and the candle will turn scaly and brown as bark begins to form. Without any horizontal branching, the tree resembles a bottlebrush.

bottlebrushstage

By growing rapidly in a short period of time, the young tree increases its competitive advantage for sunlight and moves its growth bud above typical flame heights if a fire were to occur. However, during this stage of growth, longleaf pine trees are slightly more vulnerable to fire as it may take a year or so before the bark thickens enough to withstand most fires. The longleaf may remain in this stage for a couple of years.

The Sapling Stage

Once the longleaf bottlebrush reaches about 6 to 10 feet in height, lateral branches begin to emerge and signal the beginning of the sapling stage. Around late February to mid-March, white growing tips or candles can be seen extending upwards from the tufted needles at the end of the branches. The tree continues to grow in height at upwards of 3 feet per year.

As the tree grows taller and the bark becomes thicker, the longleaf becomes less susceptible to fire. After the tree reaches 8 feet in height and about 2 inches in diameter at ground level, it becomes very robust and is rarely killed by fire. The tree will remain in this stage for several years.

saplingstage

The Mature Stage

Somewhere around 30 years after height growth initiation, longleaf pines begin to produce cones with fertile seeds. As the forest begins to mature, lower limbs may be shed or pruned off by fire. The trunk of the tree begins to fill out into a straight, relatively branch free tree that resembles a living telephone pole (in fact, many longleaf pines are sold for telephone poles).

On more fertile soils, the tree may continue to grow in height up to 110 feet. On poorer soils, the tree may only grow to 60 feet. After about 70 -100 years longleaf essentially ceases height growth. During the later stages of this period, trees may begin to show signs of decay and rot. In particular, longleaf pines reaching 80 years in age may become infected with a fungus called red-heart that causes the otherwise dense heart of the tree to become punky, soft, sappy and full of small channels.

maturetree

Old-Growth

Large-diameter trees with flat-topped crowns dominate the forest. Historical accounts describe mature longleaf pines in excess of 120 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. Conventional wisdom suggests that old-growth longleaf pine trees stop growing at these advanced ages. However, many instances exist where old-growth longleaf pine trees have actually increased growth rates at 200 years (+) when resources became available. At older ages, more and more trees begin to show signs of internal rot from red-heart fungus. In some localities, as many as half the trees per acre can be affected with red-heart in the crowns.

Research has shown that although a longleaf forest looks like and is defined as an "old-growth" stand (i.e., large, scattered, old trees) it still has approximately 2/3 of its trees less than 50 years old. Due to the large occurrence of small scale disturbances in longleaf pine ecosystems, the forest as a whole is transitioning through at least one of these stages of growth simultaneously.

Death

In a landscape that sees lightning, tornadoes, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, or even ice storms on a regular occurrence, it is really quite remarkable for a longleaf pine to die from old age. After 300 years, trees that survive everything that Mother Nature has to throw at them will eventually weaken and begin to lose the ability to fend off forest pests like black turpentine or southern pine beetles. Slowly the trees begin to die off. The initial signs of this weakening include a thinning of green needles in the tree crown, followed by signs of beetle activity on the bark, then wilting of needles and finally by complete defoliation.

Usually when we think of the contribution of an organism (like a longleaf pine) to an ecosystem, we focus merely on the living organism. However, a longleaf pine is perhaps just as significant to the ecosystem after the tree is dead as when it is alive. Once the tree dies, its bark quickly sloughs off or is torn off by foraging woodpeckers. What remains is the white skeleton of the tree; known as a snag. Snags typically remain for only a few years; without the protective bark in place, the resinous inner wood of the longleaf is exposed and often causes the snag to ignite during a forest fire and burn to the ground.

BROWSE THIS SECTION

  • The Tree
    • Life Stages
    • The Economics
    • The History
    • The Misconceptions
  • The Ecosystem
    • Built by Fire
    • Habitats
    • Species Diversity
  • Restoration & Management
    • Groundcover Restoration
    • Herbicides
    • Longleaf Regeneration
    • Prescribed Fire
  • Photo Gallery

From our feed

We measure longleaf restoration success not just i We measure longleaf restoration success not just in the number of longleaf pine trees planted or longleaf acres gained but also in how well we manage longleaf to promote a healthy ecosystem. Prescribed fire is the most effective tool to achieve those goals. In 2024, longleaf partners set a new record – applying prescribed fire to 2,290,436 acres! This was a half million increase compared to 2023. Most of the reported burn acreage occurred on public lands, but about 30% of the increase comes from private lands.This achievement contributes to the remarkable 20+ million acres of prescribed fire implemented across the Southeast since 2010.Check out the full 2024 Accomplishment Report from America's Longleaf > longleafalliance.org > news (link in bio)
Feelin’ pine in RED, WHITE, and BLUE! The charac Feelin’ pine in RED, WHITE, and BLUE! The characteristic green needles of #longleaf are not the only eye-catching colors of this iconic tree. 🔴 Reddish bark: Its thick, fire-resistant bark has a warm, rusty hue.⚪ White candles: New growth emerges from the needle cluster, resembling a white candle, before new green needles emerge. 🔵 Bluish pollen: Male pollen cones (strobili) are blue-ish/purple when mature.Longleaf brings natural color to the landscape and supports a whole host of dazzling native species. Nature’s fireworks are truly something to celebrate! 📷Photos by Karen Zilliox Brown, Ryan Bollinger, and Sarah Crate #LongleafPine #RedWhiteAndBlue #NaturesFireworks
Longleaf-ers (yes, that includes YOU!) are making Longleaf-ers (yes, that includes YOU!) are making a big progress to restore, conserve, and maintain critical longleaf pine habitat.In 2024, partners reported 2.7 million acres of accomplishments, including:🌲Gained 105,568 acres of longleaf through planting and silviculture practices🔥Applied prescribed fire to 2.2 million acres - a RECORD for the 4th year in a row!!!🌎Protected 49,337 acres through acquisitions and easementsThe full report is available at longleafalliance.org > news (link in bio)
Biodiversity Credits for Longleaf Landowners July Biodiversity Credits for Longleaf LandownersJuly 9, 2025 | Virtual WebinarJoin The Longleaf Alliance and Milliken Advisors to learn about the emerging biodiversity credit market and how it may benefit your land and generate revenue opportunities.This virtual webinar will discuss:+ how biodiversity credits work+ how they fit into long-term management goals+ current market developmentsRegister Via Zoom (link in bio).

Conservation partners

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Fram

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IFCO

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Kronospan

Manulife

Manulife

McLeod Rhodes

McLeod Rhodes

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