PINACE^E PINE FAMILY 



Pinus rigida, Mill. 



April-May Pitch Pr.ie, 



Torch Pine, 

 Sap Pine, 

 Candlewood Pine. 



Pinus: the classical Latin name. 



Rigida: from Latin, to be stiff with cold. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE TREE: on an average three to five feet high, some as 

 high as seven feet, many branches; the old bark rough and 

 furrowed and "flaky in strips." 



THE LEAVES: in the form of "needles" ; in bundles of threes 

 (very rarely some in fours); rather dark green; with two 

 sheaths. 



THE FRUIT: a cone, ovoid, becoming globular when the 

 scales open, one and a half to three inches long, provided 

 with prickles. 



There are no strictly native pine trees on Nantucket, 

 although several varieties have become naturalized and 

 their offspring are numerous. In speaking of the Pitch 

 Pine, Mrs. Owen says: "All the trees are from seed 

 planted by Josiah Sturgis and others in 1847 and following 

 years. They have spread extensively from seed, but are 

 infested now with insects of the family Tortricidae, which 

 have killed many of the trees and threaten the destruc- 

 tion of the rest. This destruction could have been 

 averted by measures taken in season, it is too late now to 

 apply the remedy. Prof. Scudder's prediction, in a report 

 on the subject has become history. 'Leave them alone,' 

 he says, 'and the pine woods of Nantucket are doomed to 



