Credits

Created by Alli Kenlan, Explore Natural Communities Intern Summer 2017, NatureServe.

Special thanks to Bryan Gorsira, Natural Resources Program Manager and Wildlife Biologist, Manassas National Battlefield Park, National Park Service.

Sound: Water Music from the Handel Show, recorded by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps (freemusicarchive.org). Public Domain.

Music: Windswept, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Photo: White Pine Needles, by Stephanie Bilodeau, courtesy of NatureServe. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0.

References:
The King's Broad Arrow and Eastern White Pine
Black Gum

Transcript

Podcast time: 3:11 minutes

Narrator: [military music begins] If you're on the Stone Bridge trail at Manassas National Battlefield Park, you've probably heard about its significance in the Civil War. But, you might not be familiar with another, lesser known historical artifact right here in these woods!

I'm talking about eastern white pine—you're actually standing in a whole forest of it right now! This pine has gray-colored bark and stands straight and tall. Its branches stick out in a ring around the trunk, like the spokes of a wheel. Some historians say that eastern white pine might have actually played as much a part in the Revolutionary War as tea!

Bryan Gorsira:  When the colonists first arrived in the New World, they were amazed to find forests of huge white pines. Not only were these pines tall, over 150 feet tall, they were perfectly straight. They did not have trees like that in Europe!

Narrator: This is Bryan Gorsira, a Natural Resources Program Manager and Wildlife biologist at Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Bryan Gorsira:  Due to their height and form, and their light weight, they were perfect for the masts of ships! King George decided all of the trees belonged to him, and had the largest white pines branded with the King's Broad Arrow mark. As you can imagine, the colonists were just not too happy about that! The white pine was so symbolic of the colonists struggle for independence that the tree was emblazoned on the first colonial flag. [military music ends]

Narrator: [new music fades in] This forest isn't just white pine, though. It's called the White Pine – Subxeric Oak Forest. Meaning... white pine—which you already know is growing here, and subxeric oak, which you're seeing plenty of! Subxeric means that the oak trees here don't mind mildly dry soil. In this community, most of the oaks you'll find are chestnut oaks. Look for scalloped leaves and deeply ridged bark! You might also see white oak, northern red oak, and scarlet oak.

In addition to the soil being dry here, the underlying bedrock makes the soil fairly acidic. And, the needles of the white pine also have a low pH, so when they build up on the forest floor, it adds to the acidity of the soil.

Dry, well-drained, acidic soil might not seem like the best conditions for growing, but there are many plants that thrive here! Plants in the heath family also love acidic soils, so you're likely to see mountain laurel, hillside blueberry, and black huckleberry. Blackgum, or black tupelo, can also be spotted throughout this community. Look for this tree's shiny teardrop shaped leaves and straight branches. The best time to spot blackgum, though, is in the fall, when its leaves change, ranging anywhere from a deep coral to red and purple. It really pops against the evergreen mountain laurel and pines!

This community is found in this park only along the cliffs that overlook Bull Run, so enjoy it as you walk along the Stone Bridge trail! White pine stood for freedom in the early days of our country, and it stands here today as a marker for this community!

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