Jack Pine Grade 3 Life Science Plant Growth and Changes The jack pine is a tree ranging from 17 m – 22 m. It always has needles on it so we say it is an evergreen tree.

 Young Jack Pine  Mature Jack Pines

The trunk is scaly and looks like this.

On Evergreen Trees the leaves are called needles. The needles that look brown on this branch are dying. The green ones is where the tree makes its food. Needles come in pairs on jack pine trees. It is an easy way to tell which evergreen is a jack pine.

Cones on the tree The cones are closed with a resin so the seeds of the tree can not fall out until the cones are opened. They will open when they get very hot. This is why fire is good for Jack pine in the forest. The older trees burn but new ones grow as the seeds are spread all over the forest floor.

Here you see a cone "seratonous" (resin-filled) on top and a cone opening below. See the seeds coming out in the second picture.

Here you can see some open cones and many new trees starting to grow. It will take many years for these to reach maturity…70 years or so.

What kind of land is the best place for jack pine to live?

Project: Bird Feeder with pine cones that are already open. We will use bigger cones from other kinds of pine trees.