Red VS White - Pines in MN
Hello and welcome to iNat! I wrote this for one of my students. The wording is particular for the student's situation but the information is valid. I hope you find this useful:
Pinus resinosa
Red Pine
The leaves (needles) are in fascicles of two. This indicates its a red pine.
White Pine leaves are in fascicles (bundles) of 5, or rarely 3 or 4, However, with a deciduous sheath holding them together, the bundles can fall apart if you are observing needles on the ground. If that happens you still would not expect to find only bundles of two so if there are no bundles of 5,3 or 4 on the ground you have a red pine. The mature cone is ovoid and under 2.5" long x 1" wide typical of Pinus resinosa, whereby, Pinus Strobus cone is generally elongated 3" to 6" long and 1.5" to 2" wide. So in review:
White is a 5 letter word with fascicles of 5
Red is a short word with fascicles of 2
