A Tree a Week: Short Leaf Pine

1/9/2026

Chaplain Beth Barksdale, Director of Entrepreneurship Program

Pinus echinata

I’d watched the sorrow of the evening sky,

And smelt the sea, and earth, and the warm clover,

And heard the waves, and the seagull’s mocking cry.

And in them all was only the old cry,

That song they always sing — “The best is over!

You may remember now, and think, and sigh,

O silly lover!”

And I was tired and sick that all was over,

And because I,

For all my thinking, never could recover

One moment of the good hours that were over.

And I was sorry and sick, and wished to die.

Then from the sad west turning wearily,

I saw the pines against the white north sky,

Very beautiful, and still, and bending over

Their sharp black heads against a quiet sky.

And there was peace in them; and I

Was happy, and forgot to play the lover,

And laughed, and did no longer wish to die;

Being glad of you, O pine-trees and the sky!

- Rupert Brooke, Pine Trees and the Sky: Evening

Last Spring, our campus launched its 2025 Up-cycle Lab Community Yarn Bomb, a collaborative and creative initiative designed to bring together the school community and the Town of Chatham in celebration of Earth Day. Colorful yarn panels adorned the trees of the Chatham Hall Arboretum, extending from the front quad to the shortleaf pine, the installation's feature tree. As viewers made their way to the meadow where our shotleaf pine stoutly stands as a campus guardian, they were invited to "Have Fun with Trees” and participate in an interactive prompt.

As a special nod to Georgia O’Keeffe, who attended Chatham Hall, participants were encouraged to lie on their backs and gaze upward to recreate the perspective of her painting The Lawrence Tree (1929) (see image above). Just as her original painting captured the unique contrast of organic shapes against a brilliant blue sky, this activity gave participants a true sense of the beauty and awe of our own shortleaf pine.

A slow-growing species, the shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) is a significant native conifer in Virginia, known for its adaptability to various dry, upland soils, valuable timber, and ability to resprout after fire via a unique basal crook tap root. It is a medium to large tree with a well-pruned trunk that can easily reach over 100 feet tall. With a small, open pyramidal crown, it captures light efficiently and is easily identified by its short evergreen needles, which are arranged in bundles of two or three.

Its cones are ovoid to oblong in shape, reddish‐ brown in color, and have spiked umbos or scales. Cones typically remain attached to the tree for one to three years, even after the seed has been released. Seeds are small and have wings to facilitate dissemination, producing saplings every spring. Lastly, the platy bark of the shortleaf pine has tiny resin pockets. The shortleaf pine is crucial for our campus wildlife, providing seeds and shelter, and is a key host for the state-endangered and federally threatened Red-cockaded Woodpecker, spotted by our avid birdwatchers on campus.

Interesting Facts

The shortleaf pine in Virginia is unique for its remarkable fire adaptation, featuring a distinctive basal J-shaped crook that allows it to resprout after being top-killed by fire, along with thick, platy bark with resin pockets for protection, and needles in bundles of two and three, making it a resilient pioneer species in fire-adapted landscapes.

Tall Timbers Research Director Morgan Varner said of the shortleaf pine, “They do it all! They are fire-resistant as a seedling. They’re fire-resistant as adults. They can resprout from the crown and branches. They can resprout from the base. They’re using all the different strategies at once.”

The shortleaf pine is found in 22 states from Texas to New Jersey and has the widest native range of the southern pine species.

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