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PINE, WHITE

Pinus spp.
Pinus spp. of the family Pinaceae, the pine family including at least the 14 following species in the table below, which is extracted from a more extensive table of species in the genus Pinus which can be seen at:

A NOTE ABOUT PINES IN THE USA

NOTE: Eastern white pine / Pinus strobus has its own page on this site
but a lot of Eastern white pine is listed/sold as just "white pine"
so there is likely some Eastern white pine on this page as well
This is the list of species that have white pine as all or part of one or more of their common names. As you can see, this makes "white pine" only slightly less meaningful as a designation than is "yellow pine" (for which, see the page "pine, yellow")

SPECIES NAME	[n] ALL COMMON NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPECIES ( [n] is the number of such common names )
pinus albicaulis	[10] alpine pine, alpine whitebark pine, creeping pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, white pine, white-bark pine, white-stem pine, whitebark pine, yellow pine
pinus ayacahuite	[5] hickory pine, mexican grey pine, mexican pine, mexican white pine, pine
pinus caribaea	[29] bahaman pine, bahamas pitch pine, black pine, british honduras pine, caribbean longleaf pine, caribbean longleaf pitch pine, caribbean pine, caribbean pitch pine, carribean pine, cuba pine, cuban pine, fat pine, fiji pine, honduran pine, honduras pitchpine, jersey pine, nicaraguan pitch pine, pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, slash pine, southern pine, southern yellow pine, spruce pine, swamp pine, virginia pine, white pine, yellow pine, yellow slash pine
pinus contorta	[26] beach pine, bird's-eye pine, black pine, bolander pine, bolander's pine, coast pine, contorta pine, henderson pine, jack pine, knotty pine, lodgepole pine, mexican contorta pine, murray pine, north-coast scrub pine, prickly pine, rocky mountain lodgepole pine, sand pine, scrub pine, shore pine, sierra lodgepole pine, spruce pine, tamarack pine, twisted pine, twisted-branch pine, western scrub pine, white pine
pinus flexilis	[9] border pine, bull pine, jack pine, limber pine, limber-twig pine, rocky mountain pine, rocky mountain white pine, western white pine, white pine
pinus glabra	[12] black pine, bottom white pine, cedar pine, lowland spruce pine, pine, poor pine, southern white pine, southern yellow pine, spruce lowland pine, spruce pine, walter pine, white pine
pinus lambertiana	[10] big pine, california sugar pine, gigantic pine, great sugar pine, king-of-pine, pine, purple-coned sugar pine, shade pine, sugar pine, true white pine
pinus monticola	[13] finger-cone pine, idaho white pine, little sugar pine, mountain pine, mountain white pine, norway white pine, pine, silver pine, soft pine, western white pine, weymouth mountain pine, white pine, yellow pine
pinus ponderosa	[34] arizona pine, arizona ponderosa pine, arizona white pine, arizona yellow pine, big pine, bird's-eye pine, blackhills ponderosa pine, blackjack pine, british colombia soft pine, british columbia pine, british soft pine, bull pine, california white pine, california yellow pine, foothills yellow pine, heavy pine, heavy-wooded pine, knotty pine, lodgepole pine, longleaf pine, oregon pine, pacific ponderosa pine, pine, pitch pine, pole pine, ponderosa pine, pondosa pine, prickly pine, red pine, rock pine, rocky mountain ponderosa pine, western pitch pine, western yellow pine, yellow pine
pinus pseudostrobus	[7] false weymouth pine, honduras pine, mexican white pine, nicaragua pine, oaxaca pine, pseudostrobus pine, weymouth false pine
pinus resinosa	[17] canadian pine, canadian red pine, eastern red pine, hard pine, idaho white pine, northern pine, norway pine, ottawa red pine, ottowa red pine, pig iron pine, pine, pitch pine, quebec pine, red norway pine, red pine, resin pine, shellbark norway pine
pinus siberica	[2] korean pine, siberian white pine
pinus strobiformis	[9] arizona white pine, ayacahuite pine, border lumber pine, border white pine, mexican pine, mexican white pine, southwestern white pine, sugar pine, white pine

my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions

NOT A RAW WOOD COLOR --- both faces of this sample have a light coat of clear paste wax (although I don't think it made much, if any, difference for this piece)
both sides of a sample plank of sugar pine / Pinus lambertiana --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Pinus lambertiana is in the white pine group.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of Western white pine / Pinus monticola --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of lodegpole pine / Pinus contorta --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of whitebark pine / Pinus albicaulis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is a pine that has both white pine and yellow pine among its common names so my choice of putting it with the white pines is arbitrary and based on the name.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of whitebark pine / Pinus albicaulis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is a pine that has both white pine and yellow pine among its common names so my choice of putting it with the white pines is arbitrary and based on the name.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of whitebark pine / Pinus albicaulis --- HUGE enlargements are present.


end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of white pine / Pinus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of white pine / Pinus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present for the first face but the photography is so crappy on the second face that enlargements would be useless. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above


first face and the end grain of a sample of white pine. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B


the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.


clear white pine turning stick and end grain --- color shows just a touch too much red; the real wood is more white like the end grain closeup directly below.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above, taken from the other end of the piece than the end grain shot


clear white pine plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of white pine / Pinus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. By sheer coincidence I happened to make the end cut at a place where there is a perfect example of a dormant branch. That is a branch that does not push out of the tree and instead grows INSIDE the tree as the tree continues to grow. Although it appears as though the branch may have had an exterior growth, it doesn't really. That little nub right outside the bark is all there was of it and it was a smooth little nub until I happened to break off part of it. There is another dormant branch on the left of the end and it just died off fairly quickly as the tree grew year by year.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


clear white pine plank --- this plank has been exposed to the air for years and has a slight patina.


both sides of two small white pine planks --- the color of the wood was not quite as washed out as this pics.


both ends of a 12" wide Eastern white pine plank. HUGE enlargements are present. The color is very well captured.


white pine plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- pic has a red tint that is not in the wood; the pics above show the correct color


knotty white pine plank and end grain. Note that the only difference between clear white pine and knotty white pine is that the "clear" has been taken from an area with no knots.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above (color is slightly too green)


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


white pine sample plank and end grain; the actual wood color is a slightly darker tan than what is shown here.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above




both sides of a sample plank of white pine root --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first face is sanded to 240 grit and the 2nd face is raw which is likely the reason for the obvious difference in color between the two faces.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


lumber yard planks of white pine showing a considerable range of color and grain


lumber yard planks of knotty white pine showing only a modest range of color and grain varieties


lumber yard planks of what was labeled as "whitewood", which can mean a lot of things, but I think these are a form of white pine, rather than spruce or fir. Extreme enlargements are present


four white pine planks at a lumber yard --- I took these pics specifically to get some pics of knotholes, but I figured I might as well post them here since these are good representations of white pine.


another batch of pics taken at a lumber yard of Eastern white pine knots --- huge enlargements are present (the 2nd enlargement shows up bigger than life)


sets of Eastern white pine planks shot at at LOWES at various times


white pine planks


white pine plank with an orangish color


knotty white pine plank and end grain. I had to buy a pine plank recently and found one at the hardware store that had this high-grain knot area at one end. The pic on the left has too much red.


same plank as directly above, but moistened with water, which as you can see does not make the kind of dramatic color change in this wood that it sometimes does in others woods.


white pine veneer --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D. Both of these are from the new collection and were listed as white pine and knotty pine but I'm confident that the knotty piece is white pine. I note that these have a slight age patina.


knotty white pine veneer --- there's a touch too much red in these pics


knotty white pine veneer sheet and closeup


veneer sheet sold to me as mottled Idaho white pine. Although the dealer is an honest one, this does not look like any pine I've ever seen, and in fact looks exactly like lightly mottled anigre, so I am dubious.


stitched white pine veneer sheet and closeup --- color is VERY INNACURATE --- I need to correct this. the actual wood is yellow/tan, not brown


stitched white pine veneer sheet and closeup --- color is VERY INNACURATE --- I need to correct this. the actual wood is yellow/tan, not brown

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The Wood Book pics


flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
white pine (Pinus glabra) also listed as cedar pine and lowland spruce pine, from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views


flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
white pine (Pinus contorta) listed as California scrub pine, lodgepole pine, and shore pine, from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views


flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
white pine (Pinus monticola) listed as mountain white pine, from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views


whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

web pics:

end grain cross section of lodgepole pine / Pinus contorta


white pine planks


white pine flooring


a white pine plank listed as "clear" which just means it's white pine without knotholes


Northern white pine planks


Northern white pine plaques


lodgepole pine plank


white pine veneer


knotty white pine veneer


knotty Idaho white pine veneer


plywood listed as clear white pine


plywood listed as knotty white pine

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white pine bowls turned and photographed by Tom Pleatman, whom I thank for these pics and other contributions to the site. Big enlargements are present.


knotty white pine overhead shelf with polyurethane coating that turns the pine a pretty yellowish tan. This shelf wraps around two sides of a small room and adds a nice touch to the high ceiling in addition to providing storage space for a lot of my wife's spinning and weaving implements. The elaborate supports (which can be viewed much more clearly in the enlargement) were done as a decorative touch and the planks were chosen for grain character and solid knots.