page_title: Pinus taeda
section_title: Taxonomy and naming
hierarchical_section_title: Pinus taeda / Taxonomy and naming
caption_attribution_description: English: The bark of Pinus taeda
context_page_description: Pinus taeda, commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from central Texas east to Florida, and north to Delaware and southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. U.S. Forest Service surveys found that loblolly pine is the second-most common species of tree in the United States, after red maple. For its timber, the pine species is regarded as the most commercially important tree in the Southeastern U.S.
  The common name loblolly is given because the pine species is found mostly in lowlands and swampy areas.
  Loblolly pine is the first among over 100 species of Pinus to have its complete genome sequenced. As of March 2014, it was the organism having the largest sequenced genome size. Its genome, with 22 billion base pairs, is seven times larger than that of humans. As of 2018, assembly of the axolotl genome displaced loblolly pine as the largest assembled genome.
context_section_description: The word "loblolly" is a combination of "lob", referring to thick, heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and "lolly", an old British dialect word for broth, soup, or any other food boiled in a pot. In the southern United States, the word is used to mean "a mudhole; a mire," a sense derived from an allusion to the consistency of porridge. Hence, the pine is named as it is generally found in lowlands and swampy areas. Loblolly pines grow well in acidic, clay soil, which is common throughout the South, thus are often found in large stands in rural places. Other old names, now rarely used, include oldfield pine, due to its status as an early colonizer of abandoned fields; bull pine, due to its size (several other yellow pines are also often so named, especially large isolated specimens); rosemary pine, due to loblolly's distinctive fragrance compared to the other southern pines; and North Carolina pine.
  For the scientific name, Pinus  is the Latin name for the pines and taeda  refers to the resinous wood.
caption: Bark on a mature tree
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A560", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2009:04:21 18:02:17", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Tag 0x1001": "3072", "Image Tag 0x1002": "2304", "Image ExifOffset": "266", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3442", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6295", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/20", "EXIF FNumber": "13/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:04:21 18:02:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:04:21 18:02:17", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "69/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "11/4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "11/4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2304", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3072", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2304000/169", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "40960/3", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera"}