Heart Pine refers to the

heartwood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

of the

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

, which is the non-living center of the tree trunk, while the sapwood is the outer living layer which transports nutrients. Heartwood and sapwood in pinus sylvestris

Heartwood and sapwood in pinus sylvestris

The heartwood from the pine tree, heart pine, is preferred by woodworkers and builders over the sapwood, due to its strength, hardness and golden red coloration. The

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

, the favored tree for heart pine, nearly went extinct due to logging. Before the 18th century, in the United States, longleaf pine forests, covered approximately 30-60 million acres along the coastal plain from Virginia's southern tip to eastern Texas. These pine trees, 80 to 120 feet tall, require 100 to 150 years to become full size and can live up to 500 years. An inch of heart pine requires 30 years growth. Due to deforestation and over-harvesting since colonial days, only about 3% of the original Longleaf Pine forest remains. The source of much of the available heart pine found on the market is longleaf pine from old buildings. Before 1900 it was a source for poles, pilings, posts, sawlogs, flooring, plywood, pulpwood and

naval stores Naval stores are all liquid products derived from conifers. These materials include rosin, tall oil, pine oil, and terpentine. The term ''naval stores'' originally applied to the organic compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ...

(tapped for

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...

). Currently heart pine for building and woodworking is procured by reclaiming old

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

and recovering logs, felled pre-1900, from rivers.

References

{{Reflist Pinus Wood