Jack Pine

Jack Pine is a small to medium sized pine native to eastern and central North America, ranging from the Northwest Territories of Canada east to Nova Scotia and south into the northern United States around the Great Lakes. It is notable for its serotinous cones, which remain sealed with resin and open to release seed only after exposure to the heat of a forest fire, making the species highly adapted to fire prone boreal landscapes. The tree is typically twisted and irregular in form, growing to about 20 meters in height on poor sandy soils where few other trees can compete. Jack Pine forests provide critical nesting habitat for the endangered Kirtland's Warbler, which nests almost exclusively in young stands of the species.