’Tis the season, so how about some conifer information? Pennsylvania and the Times News region are hosts to a number of conifer (cone bearing) species.

Actually only the Eastern hemlock, pitch pine, the Eastern white pine, black spruce and red pines are native to this area. The latter are not very common and are rather insignificant.

We do have many other conifers living here but they are not native. They were either planted as ornamentals around our homes or farms, or are cultivated for Christmas trees. Those introduced species include: Norway spruce, blue spruce, Scotch pine, Fraser fir, concolor fir and the larch.

Conifers all produce cones in order to reproduce, however they don’t necessarily produce cones every year. All the conifers here, with one exception, are evergreens. The larch produces cones but “sheds” its needles every autumn much the same as a maple or sassafras tree.

If the rain and strong winds haven’t shaken all the larch’s needles off yet, they can be identified by having a burnt orange foliage and are easy to pick out among the now nearly bare deciduous trees.

Norway spruces were commonly planted as borders or property dividers, but they have been very useful in wildlife plantings, too. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has been planting them among crabapples and dogwoods in hedgerows for wildlife. The spruces offer shelter and nesting areas for birds and “cover” for other wildlife. They grow rather quickly and aren’t too “fussy” regarding soil chemistry.

Spruces, in particular blue spruce, have their branches covered in needles in a radial fashion. Blue spruce needles are very stiff and prickly. Basically all spruces have sharp, pointy needles. Fir trees have more forgiving needles, thus their popularity as Christmas tree choices. Fraser, Douglas and concolor fir are very popular varieties. Concolor firs have a mild citrus smell when their longer, softer needles are broken.

The white pine is our largest conifer, some reaching over 125 feet. They are common throughout our region and have been a valuable timber tree. Most pines have few large limbs on the lower part of their trunks and thus produce pine boards with few knots. White pines have their needles in bundles of five and they are rather long and soft. Pitch pines are not as important as timber trees. They often grow in rather poor soils and most don’t exceed 50 feet in height.

“Old hunters” probably are very familiar with these growing in the scrub oak plateaus on the Broad Mountain or Hell Flats. Pitch pine, also called bull pines, tolerate brush fires well with their thick, layered trunks. They have their needles in bundles of three.

The Eastern hemlock is our second largest conifer. Our state tree once covered our damp mountain slopes and were timbered extensively for their bark used for tannic acid needed for tanning leather. Millions of hemlocks were cut just for their bark. Today, the hemlocks are fighting a battle with the woolly adelgid. These insects have decimated acres and acres of hemlocks. The hemlock has short soft needles arranged laterally on the hemlock twig.

Conifers are generally the first trees to grow in fallow fields or pastures, and conservationists have followed that lead and plant spruces and pines in areas where they wish to establish a forest to protect the soil from erosion and store water for our watersheds.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: True/False, House finches have been introduced to our area from Europe.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Rather unusual for birds, the Carolina wren, common around our garages and porches, often sings even on cold winter mornings.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.