Pinus elliottii Engelm.

SLASH PINE

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This species concept includes P. elliottii var. densa (or P. densa), distinguished from the typical variety by having denser wood, a grass-like seedling stage, needles usually in fascicles of 2 with a thicker hypoderm, and opened cones averaging 10.1 cm long with a rounded bottom (Little & Dorman 1952, 1954; Ward 1963). Ward (1963) gave its distribution as Levy, Polk, Osceola, and Volusia Cos. southward, overlapping with the distribution of var. elliottii in central Florida. Studies by Squillace (1966) and Schmidtling & Hipkins (2001) found no clear distinction, with variation appearing continuous between the two varieties (see also Dvorak et al. 2000; Hernández-León et al. 2013). Pinus elliottii is closely related to P. caribea (Schmidtling & Hipkins 2001; Schmidtling 2007). Four samples identified as P. elliottii var. densa (from Big Pine Key, Miami-Dade Co, and Pinellas Co.) were recovered as monophyletic and sister to P. palustris based on nuclear DNA sequences, while plastid DNA suggested the sample from Pinellas Co. may have hybridization history with P. echinata (Gernandt et al. 2018).

Native FACW (NWPL) AD (WAP)