The Monarch of the Forest

• Eastern white pine trees have been dubbed the "Monarch of the Forest" for their unusually large size. American settlers recorded the Eastern white pines as being 250 feet tall, or 170 feet taller than modern eastern white pines, and only 6 feet in diameter, which is 34 feet smaller than their modern counterpart.
  
  

Colonial Ties

• While Eastern white pines are now used for Christmas trees and lumber, in Colonial times they were primarily used for ship mast construction for military and commercial sailing vessels. Due to the masts' extraordinary height, the Royal Navy of Britain protested their use for mast construction in 1691, imposing one of many "broad arrow" acts that claimed the tallest trees for the English government by marking them with a large ax mark. The English actions in regard to the pine tree population was one of the factors that precipitated the Revolutionary War, which adopted the white pine as its Revolutionary Forces flag emblem.
  
  

Age

• Of all the pine tree varieties, long-leaf pines can reach up to 250 years old, with trees in this species being documented with lifespans as long as 450 years.
  
  

Christmas Tree Usage

• Since 1850, pine trees have been commercially sold as Christmas trees, with the most common types including Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine. Pine trees, when grown for Christmas tree use, take seven to 10 years to produce, and remove air dust and pollen.
  
  

Pine Trees and the Wild Kingdom

• The bark of pine trees is eaten by many animals, such beavers, snowshoe hares, rabbits, mice and porcupines, while the seeds of the white pine are eaten by black bears, rabbits, red squirrels and red crossbills. Birds such as woodpeckers, common grackles, mourning doves, nuthatches and chickadees use pine trees for nesting.