2002 34c Longleaf Pine Forest: Broadhead Skink

U.S. #3611e
34¢ Broadhead Skink
Longleaf Pine Forest
Nature of America Series

Issue Date: April 26, 2002
City: Tallahassee, FL
Quantity: 7,000,000
Printed by: American Packaging Corp. for Sennet Security Products
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 10.5 x 10.75 and 10.75 x 10.5
Quantity: 7,000,000

The longleaf pine forest is the largest conifer (cone-bearing) forest east of the Mississippi River. The rough-barked trees grow up to 100 feet tall, with dark green, shiny needles up to 18 inches and cones up to 10 inches long. A mature tree can live 500 years.

The longleaf pine forest is home to thousands of species of animals, reptiles, amphibians, and plants. Some are found nowhere else, and some, like the red-cockaded woodpecker, the flatwoods salamander, the gopher tortoise, and the Florida pine snake, are either endangered or threatened species.

Before Europeans arrived in America, the longleaf pine forest covered as many as 60 million acres, stretching from southeastern Virginia to eastern Texas. Today, fewer than 4 million acres remain. The Longleaf Pine Forest pane is the fourth in the Nature of America Series.