Editing Pinus taeda (section)

{{Short description|Species of conifer}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Loblolly Pines South Mississippi.JPG
| image_caption = Characteristic appearance of loblolly pines, south Mississippi, USA
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Pinus taeda'' |volume=2013 |page=e.T42420A2978958 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42420A2978958.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Pinus
| parent = Pinus subsect. Australes
| display_parents = 3
| species = taeda
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus]], [[Species Plantarum|1753]])
| range_map = Pinus taeda distribution map.png
| range_map_caption = Natural range of loblolly pine
}}

'''''Pinus taeda''''', commonly known as '''loblolly pine''', is one of several [[pine]]s native to the [[Southeastern United States]], from [[East Texas]] to [[Florida]], and north to southern [[New Jersey]].<ref name="Flora">{{eFloras|1|200005364|Pinus taeda |family=Pinaceae |first=Robert |last=Kral}}</ref> The [[wood industry]] classifies the species as a [[southern yellow pine]].<ref name=baker/> [[U.S. Forest Service]] surveys found that loblolly pine is the second-most common species of tree in the [[United States]], after [[red maple]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Nix|first=Steve|title=Ten Most Common Trees in the United States|work=About.com Education |url=http://forestry.about.com/b/2012/07/21/ten-most-common-trees-in-the-united-states.htm|publisher=About.com Forestry|access-date=11 January 2013}}</ref> For its [[timber]], the pine species is regarded as the most commercially important tree in the Southeastern U.S.<ref>{{cite web|title=Loblolly Pine|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pic/NCTrees/loblollypine.htm|publisher=Plant Information Center|access-date=27 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Loblolly pine|url=http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/LandownerFactsheets/detail.cfm?Genus=Pinus&Species=taeda|publisher=Virginia Tech Forestry Department|access-date=27 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Loblolly Pine|url=http://www.treeimprovement.org/public/about/species-interest/loblolly-pine/loblolly-pine|publisher=Tree Improvement Programme|access-date=27 March 2014}}</ref> The common name loblolly is given because the pine species is found mostly in lowlands and swampy areas.<ref name=freedictionary>{{cite book|title=The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language|year=2000|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/loblolly|edition=4th}}</ref>

Loblolly pine is the first among over 100 species of ''[[Pinus]]'' to have its [[List of sequenced plant genomes|complete genome sequenced]]. As of March 2014, it was the organism having the largest sequenced genome size. Its genome, with 22 billion [[base pairs]], is seven times larger than [[human genome|that of humans]].<ref name=Zimin>{{cite journal|last1=Zimin|first1=Aleksey|last2=Stevens|first2=Kristian|display-authors=etal|title=Sequencing and Assembly of the 22-Gb Loblolly Pine Genome|journal=Genetics|date=Mar 2014|volume=196|issue=3|pages=875–890|doi=10.1534/genetics.113.159715|pmid=24653210| pmc=3948813 }}</ref><ref name=main>{{cite web|last=Main|first=Douglas|title=Scientists Sequence The Largest Genome To Date|url=http://www.popsci.com/article/science/scientists-sequence-largest-genome-date?dom=PSC&loc=poprail&lnk=6&con=scientists-sequence-the-largest-genome-to-date-|work=Popular Science|publisher=A Bonnier Corporation Company|access-date=27 March 2014|date=20 March 2014}}</ref> As of 2018, assembly of the [[axolotl]] genome (32Gb) displaced loblolly pine as the largest assembled genome.<ref name=Nowoshilow>{{cite journal | first1=Sergej Nowoshilow | last1=Eugene W. Myers |title=The axolotl genome and the evolution of key tissue formation regulators | journal=Nature | volume=554 | issue=7690 | pages=50–55 | year=2018 | doi=10.1038/nature25458 | pmid=29364872 | bibcode=2018Natur.554...50N | doi-access=free | hdl=21.11116/0000-0003-F659-4 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> The loblolly pine was selected as the official state tree of [[Arkansas]] in 1939.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.meettheusa.com/usa-facts/arkansas-facts |title=47 Arkansas Facts |publisher=Meet The USA |date=2022}}</ref>