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pitch pine

pitch pine

1 5.8
A large pine tree from eastern North America that people use for its wood and sticky sap
  • noun
  • /pɪtʃ paɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pino de pitch
  • The pitch pine is renowned for its sturdy wood and aromatic resin, making it valuable in construction.
  • pitch pine forest
  • oak and pitch pine

Examples

  • Each morning, we would then track them down on their roosts, and the birds I found were almost always way at the top of a pitch pine (or oak before the leaves dropped) and difficult to see.

    Blog text (27)
  • Henry David Thoreau built his cabin from pitch pine in the serene woods near Concord, Massachusetts.

  • In those days they would've used pitch pine torches.

  • Windswept and relatively dry, with poor and shallow soils, such zones are dominated by short and usually gnarly bear oak and pitch pine.

    Academic text (2011)
  • To the west, the sun burnt its way through the pitch pines and birches where final hillocks of snow clung in darkness to matted leaves.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Bear oak and pitch pine are the dominant trees, usually associated with bigtooth aspen, gray birch, mountain laurel, mountain maple, paper birch, and sassafras.

    Academic text (2011)
  • This region's pitch pine trees provide vital habitats for various wildlife species and thrive in sandy soil.

Synonyms

Pinus rigida
vspitch pine
  • Specialized
8.8

A large pine tree with groups of three needles that grows in eastern North America

is the common term focusing on its value for wood and resin
northern pitch pine
vspitch pine
  • US
7.5

A large pine tree from eastern North America with three needles in each cluster and thick, rough bark

is the broader name that highlights its economic value for wood and resin

Surface Forms

pitch pine singular
pitch pines plural

Morphology

pitch + pine

The compound is compositionally built from 'pitch' (a resin/tar-like substance) + 'pine' (a tree), so a learner can infer it denotes a pine associated with pitch or resin. This modifier–noun formation follows ordinary English compounding patterns and is cross-linguistically common, making the meaning transparently derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Pitch pine is named for the sticky sap called pitch that the tree makes and the word pine for the tree. Early builders used that pitch to seal ships and roofs, so the name means 'a pine tree that produces pitch'.