Summer 2005

CSI--Longleaf Pine!

In Virginia, Verifying the Tree's Original Range

by Tom Eberhardt and Phil Sheridan

Crime scene investigation shows are all the rage on TV these days. To determine the original range of longleaf pine in Virginia, we return to multiple "ecoscenes" to investigate the "remains" of very old southern yellow pine stumps. We use chemical and physical analyses in an effort to determine whether the wood samples collected from the stumps are actually longleaf pine. Jolie Mahfouz, biological technician with the Southern Research Station (SRS) Bark Beetles and Invasive Insects unit in Pineville, LA, adds another level of analysis with her expertise in gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Straight growth, coupled with strength and density, make longleaf pine highly desirable for poles, construction lumber, and flooring. Longleaf pine has a wellestablished history in naval stores production, from early turpentine operations to the subsequent processing of residual stumps, especially those from trees harvested in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.(...continued...)