Pich Pine is a strong and durable timber used for ship building, decorative beams and heavy constructional work, with smaller kiln dried sections being used for flooring and quality joinery works. A timber of good appearance and characteristic grain.

Pitch Pine is not a major timber tree due to the frequency of multiple or crooked trunks; nor is it as fast-growing as other eastern American pines. However, it grows well on unfavorable sites. In the past, it was a major source of pitch and timber for ship building, mine timbers, and railroad ties because the wood’s high resin content preserves it from decay.

Pitch Pine is currently used mainly for rough construction, pulp, crating, and fuel. However, due to its uneven growth, quantities of high quality can be very sought after, and large lengths of Pitch Pine can be very costly.

Pitch Pine grows in the Bahamas, western Cuba, the Isle of Pines, and in Central America from Belize to eastern Guatemala, northern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua

The wood closely resembles American Pitch Pine; the heartwood is reddish-brown, the depth of colour varying with the amount of resin present and the sapwood, which is 50mm to 75mm wide, is pale yellowish-brown. The wood is coarse in texture with a more or less pronounced resinous odour, and the grain is typically straight. Growth zones of dark tissue produce conspicuous bands on all surfaces.