Pine trees on the Gulf Coast

[texas7]

The Florida panhandle along the coast is covered with pine trees.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

Do you know why they are different? It's like the trees in the other part of the south have an organized and a more manicured look.

The ones here are loblolly pines. There are longleaf and shortleaf elsewhere through the Southern US.

Also they take on a different shapes due to the soil. On the south side the "gumbo" clay soil makes them more woody / scraggly and shorter than what you'd find on the north side. People have done the same thing in the Texas Hill Country, and they have about the same look:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2901...8i6656!6m1!1e1

Even worse in Dallas:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8292...8i6656!6m1!1e1

There are natural loblollies about 30 miles east of Austin, many of which got killed by man-made wildfires recently, which are more green but still shorter:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ba...add960!6m1!1e1

Originally Posted by texas7

The Florida panhandle along the coast is covered with pine trees.

Alabama is too, on the Gulf. You can be on a white sand beach one minute and in a pine forest in another. Gulf beaches here back up against marsh & grass prairie like the rest of South Texas.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by tstone

The ones here are loblolly pines. There are longleaf and shortleaf elsewhere through the Southern US.

Also they take on a different shapes due to the soil. On the south side the "gumbo" clay soil makes them more woody / scraggly and shorter than what you'd find on the north side. People have done the same thing in the Texas Hill Country, and they have about the same look:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2901...8i6656!6m1!1e1

Even worse in Dallas:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8292...8i6656!6m1!1e1

There are natural loblollies about 30 miles east of Austin, many of which got killed by man-made wildfires recently, which are more green but still shorter:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ba...add960!6m1!1e1



Alabama is too, on the Gulf. You can be on a white sand beach one minute and in a pine forest in another. Gulf beaches here back up against marsh & grass prairie like the rest of South Texas.

I've noticed the difference in the pines between the north and the south. Katy's pines look similar to the short pines in Pearland.

[MasterBlock]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

Interesting!


Are the pines in West Houston like Memorial City, etc. natural? There are even some in Katy and Pearland.

Pines naturally grow in the Bay Area of Houston along the many bayous, such as Armand Bayou, or Dickinson Bayou. Bayou soils are better drained, and more acidic than the more alkaline surrounding soil. Furthermore, there are natural sandy ridges inland from the present Texas Coast, representing the ancient shoreline, known as the Ingleside Barrier; pine trees like such sandy soil hence the coverage in Dickinson, and Armand Bayou.

Originally Posted by tstone

Alabama is too, on the Gulf. You can be on a white sand beach one minute and in a pine forest in another. Gulf beaches here back up against marsh & grass prairie like the rest of South Texas.

Soils along the coastal areas of Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle have parent material originating in the Appalachians, the oldest mountain chain on the planet. Said mountain chain existed entirely in a region that had the wet climate conducive not only to weathering, but to extensive leaching (making the soil more acidic). Thus, once the material weathered to produce the coastal AL and Panhandle FL soils, it had the strong acidity right to the beach to allow pines to grow to the coast.

The soils of the Texas Coast come from material weathered from the Rocky Mountains, a younger mountain chain in a drier climate region. As a result, the soils aren't as heavily weathered, and leached, resulting in the more alkaline Gumbo clay.

The climate of the Houston and Southeast Texas is like that of much of the coastal Southeastern US, and thus is sufficiently wet enough to contribute to the extensive leaching and weathering of the alkaline clay soil; in due time, the Houston area will eventually be covered with forest all the way down to Galveston. The South Texas coastal area, however, is much drier in climate, and thus leaching won't occur as fast.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by tstone

The ones here are loblolly pines. There are longleaf and shortleaf elsewhere through the Southern US.

Also they take on a different shapes due to the soil. On the south side the "gumbo" clay soil makes them more woody / scraggly and shorter than what you'd find on the north side. People have done the same thing in the Texas Hill Country, and they have about the same look:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2901...8i6656!6m1!1e1

Even worse in Dallas:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8292...8i6656!6m1!1e1

There are natural loblollies about 30 miles east of Austin, many of which got killed by man-made wildfires recently, which are more green but still shorter:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ba...add960!6m1!1e1



Alabama is too, on the Gulf. You can be on a white sand beach one minute and in a pine forest in another. Gulf beaches here back up against marsh & grass prairie like the rest of South Texas.

Loblollies grow in every southern state including Texas. Same with longleaf and shortleaf.

[soletaire]

I like the longleaf pines of Deep East Texas and the Loblollys of Upper East Texas best. I don't like the slash pine over in Florida that much though, it's too bright of a green to me. Shortleafs are ok..but the loblollys look the best in the fall, to me.

[MasterBlock]

Originally Posted by tstone

Alabama is too, on the Gulf. You can be on a white sand beach one minute and in a pine forest in another. Gulf beaches here back up against marsh & grass prairie like the rest of South Texas.

A similar juxtaposition occurs along the Brazos River.