MAINE STATE FLOWERS

The White pine cone and Tassel (Pinus strobus) was named the Maine State Flower on July 21, 1945. Maine is the only state that has selected an official floral emblem that does not offer a flower. Eastern white pine is a perennial, considered native to the USA. Eastern white pine is a beautiful landscape pine widely used throughout much of North America.

Kingdom

Plantae

Division

Coniferophyta

Class

Pinopsida

Order

Pinales

Family

Pinaceae

Genus

Pinus

Species

Pinus strobus L. eastern white pine

The Eastern white pine cone and tassel tree is classified within group Gymnosperm of the Pinaceae family. Botanically, these are not considered flowers since gymnosperms do not have true flowers. The reproductive structures of pines are known as strobili. Maine is the only state to have an official state strobilae.

The Eastern white pine cone trees belonging to the class of pines, also called as Conifers, are excellent trees for reforestation projects, landscaping, and has the distinction of having been one of the more widely planted American trees.

Eastern White Pine cone tree is also known as Strobus strobus (Linnaeus), Northern White Pine, Northern Pine, Soft Pine, and Weymouth Pine. Eastern White Pine and Tassel have staminate flowers in clustered yellow catkins, and pistillate flowers as pink immature cones. Eastern White Pine and Tassel blooms in spring (April and early May) and these are ornamentally insignificant.

Eastern White Pine cone tree is monoecious. The pattern of flowering in Eastern White Pine tree is uncertain. The male strobili are oval, 8 to 10 mm long and occur mostly on the basal part of new shoots and mostly on older lateral branches in the lower crown. At the time of pollen shed, they are light brown to brown. Eastern White Pine cone and Tassel female flowers are found most often in the upper crown, primarily at the apical end of the main branches in the position of subterminal or lateral buds. At the time of pollination, they are green, and 5 to 38 mm long. The Eastern White Pine cone and Tassel male flowers develop from one to several weeks before the female flowers. Trees may start to bear female flowers when 5 to 10 years old.

There are many online florists who deliver flowers to Maine. You can send flowers, plants of your choice to your loved ones living in Maine or from Maine to other locations across the United States of America through these popular Maine Online Florists.

Facts About Eastern White Pine

• Eastern White Pine cone and Tassel flowers (strobili) occur on the tree.
• Eastern White Pine Cone and Tassel flowers also have a fragrant gummy resin, and are aromatic.
• Eastern White Pine cone and Tassel flowers are slender and thornless, 3 inches - 10 inches long and tapering.
• Each scale of the cone usually bears two winged seeds and are usually slightly curved.
• Eastern White Pine cone and Tassel flower scales are thin and never have prickles.
• Eastern White Pine tree leaves (needles) are soft, flexible and bluish-green to silver green in color and are regularly arranged in bundles of five.
• Eastern White Pine trees are moderately fire resistant and are mature trees that survive most surface fires due to the thick bark, branch-free trunks, and a moderately deep rooting habit. (Younger trees are not as fire resistant.)
• Eastern White Pine tree bark darkens and thickens as the tree ages.
• The young Eastern White Pines turn from smooth and gray, to gray-brown, and deeply furrowed with broad ridges of irregularly rectangular, purple-tinged scaly plates.
• Eastern White Pine cone tree may live upto 450 years and commonly reaches 200 years of age.
• Eastern White Pine cone tree grows to a height of 80 feet-110 feet, which can be considered as the largest eastern conifer.

Facts About Maine state

• Maine's climate is most healthful, and cold during a considerable portion of the year at all seasons.
• Maine is situated between 43.6' and 47.27' N. lat., and 66.56' and 71.6' W.
• Major industries in Maine are agriculture (especially potatoes), shipbuilding, fishing (especially lobsters), footwear, machinery, electronics, tourism.
• Maine's bordering state is New Hampshire.
• Maine's nicknames are: Pine Tree State, The Polar Star State, The Dirigo, The Switzerland of America, The Border State, The Lumber State.
• Maine's state motto is The Dirigo - I direct.
• Maine's economy depends upon Agriculture: Seafood, poultry and eggs, potatoes, dairy products, cattle, blueberries, apples; Industry: Paper, lumber, and wood products, electric equipment, food processing, leather products, textiles, tourism.
• Some of the tourist places are: Acadia National Park, Desert of Maine - Freeport, Portland Museum of Art - Portland, Moosehead Lake - Greenville, Bar Harbor, Allagash National Wilderness Waterway, Roosevelt Campobello International Park, and the St. Croix Island National Monument.
• The largest and most celebrated lake in Maine is Moosehead Lake.
• Owing to the large extent of forest, hunting game is so plentiful that Maine is called the hunter's paradise.
• Maine's blueberry harvest is the largest in the nation, yielding almost all the low bush blueberries grown in the United States.
• Maine has 60 lighthouses. One of the most famous is Portland Head Light, which was commissioned by President George Washington.
• Nearly 90 percent of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine, approximately 40 million pounds.