There is a growing abundance of these trees.  They have a fast growing rate.  Some of this increase in richness of pines has been due to death of oak trees.  The death of the oaks made space for pines growth to accelerate and make their presence in the forests more noticeable.  Young, small white pine trees can be seen throughout the trail.  It is an evergreen plant which means it is green during all four seasons.   This is because these trees have needles instead of leaves.  There are many reasons these needles provide year round photosynthesis.  The needle shape allows snow to fall off of the tree easily so there are not many needles lost due to snowfall.  Cells in the needles also are protected by the tree sap that carries its own type of antifreeze.  While the pine can photosynthesize in cold temperatures, the shortage of sunlight causes photosynthesis to not be as efficient.  This is why the White Pine trees take advantage in warmer, sunnier seasons and store some energy in the spring and summer.  The White Pine grows to be 50' - 80' feet in height, and has a spread of about 20' - 40' at full maturity.  It grows well in moist well grained soil.