Longleaf pine

Pinus palustris Mill. · Softwood · North America

Janka 870 lbf≈37 lb/ft³ dried (est.)

Properties

Janka hardness	870 lbf (3,870 N)
Average dried weight (est.)	37 lb/ft³ (590 kg/m³)
Specific gravity	0.59
Modulus of rupture	14,500 psi (100.0 MPa)
Modulus of elasticity	1.98 million psi (13.65 GPa)
Crushing strength	8,470 psi (58.4 MPa)
Shrinkage — radial	5.1%
Shrinkage — tangential	7.5%
Shrinkage — volumetric	12.2%
Shrinkage T/R ratio	1.5

Values at 12% moisture content, clear-wood averages. Source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook FPL-GTR-282 (2021), Table 5-3 p. 5-12; shrinkage Table 4-3 p. 4-8.

Longleaf pine is the heavyweight of the southern pines (specific gravity 0.59, Janka hardness 870 lbf) — strong, stiff, and hard, and historically the premier structural pine of the Southeast. The species is listed as Endangered, its once-vast longleaf forests reduced to a fraction of their original range.

Appearance & grain

The sapwood is yellowish white and wide in second-growth trees. The heartwood is reddish brown. As part of the southern pine group, longleaf shares the group's general appearance, with the heavier, resinous character typical of the dense southern pines.

Workability

The Handbook classifies longleaf with slash pine as heavy, strong, stiff, and hard, with moderately high shock resistance. Shrinkage is moderately high, but properly dried southern pine lumber remains dimensionally stable in service.