Spruce Pine

The Pinus Clausa is commonly known as Sand Pine, Scrub Pine, as well as Spruce Pine

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Growing Regions

The Ocala variety grows in the Florida Peninsula, and the Choctawhatchee variety grows in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. On the peninsula, sand pine occurs from Tampa to Naples on the Gulf Coast and from St. Augustine to Fort Lauderdale on the Atlantic Coast. A few stands also occur on off-shore islands. The largest stand of sand pine is in the Big Shrub Complex of the Ocala National Forest in north-central Florida [1,2,16].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of sand pine is Pinus clausa (Chapm. ex Engelm.) Vasey ex Sarg. [1,11]. The species is divided into two geographic varieties which differ in cone serotiny [1,11,12,16]: Pinus clausa var. clausa = Ocala sand pine (serotinous cones) Pinus clausa var. immuginata = Choctawhatchee sand pine (nonserotinous cones) Aside from serotiny, no consistent morphological differences have been found between the two varieties. Myers [16] suggests that there is no compelling reason to distinguish them. Both varieties will be discussed in this report, with emphasis on Pinus clausa var. clausa.

Sand pine is dominant in the Florida Scrub community type.  A published
classification listing sand pine as dominant in community types (cts) is
presented below:

Area                    Classification                  Authority

FL                      gen. forest cts                 Waggoner 1975

• More Spruce Pine Information

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