CONIFERS 



25 



and forming a loose unsymmetrical often picturesque head, and very stout branch-, 

 lets dark orange-brown at first, becoming sometimes nearly black at the end of 

 three or four years. Bark of the trunk l^'-2' thick, dark brown or nearly black 

 and deeply divided into broad rounded connected ridges covered with thin closely 

 appressed scales. Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle, coarse-grained, light red, 

 with thick nearly white sapwood ; occasionally used for fuel. The seeds were for- 

 merly gathered in large quantities and eaten by the Indians of southern California. 

 Distribution. Scattered singly or in small groves through coniferous forests on the 

 dry slopes and ridges of the coast ranges of California at elevations of 3000-6000 

 above the sea, from Mount Diablo and the Santa Lucia Mountains to the Cuyamaca 

 Mountains ; most abundant on the San Bernardino and San Jacinto ranges at eleva- 

 tions of about 5000. 



*^ Leaves in 2-leaved clusters {2 and 3-leaved in 29). 

 -* Cones suhterminal. 



25. Pinus resinosa. Ait. Red Pine. Norway Pine. 



Leaves slender, soft and flexible, dark green and lustrous, 5'-6' long, obscurely 

 marked on the ventral faces bv bands of minute stomata, deciduous during their 



fourth and fifth seasons. Flowers: staminate in dense spikes, dark purple; pistil- 

 late terminal, short-stalked, scarlet. Fruit ovate-conical, subsessjle, 2'-2^' long, with 

 thin slightly concave scales, unarmed, becoming light chestnut-brown and lustrous 

 at maturity ; shedding their seeds early in the autumn and mostly persistent on the 

 branches until the following summer; seeds oval, compressed, \' long, with a thin 

 dark chestnut-brown more or less mottled shell and wings broadest below the middle, 

 oblique at the apex, f long, \'-y broad. 



A tree, usually 70-80 or occasionally 150 high, with a tall straight trunk 

 2-3 in diameter, thick spreading more or less pendulous branches clothing the 

 young stems to the ground and forming a broad irregular pyramid, and in old age 

 an open round-topped picturesque head, and stout branchlets at first orange color, 

 finally becoming light reddish brown. Bark of the trunk f'-l^ thick and slightly 

 divided by shallow fissures into broad flat ridges covered by thin loose light red- 

 brown scales. Wood light, hard, very close-grained, pale red, with thin yellow 

 often nearly white sapwood ; largely used in the construction of bridges and build- 

 ings, for piles, masts, and spars. The bark is occasionally used for tanning leather. 



