174 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



of the branch, the rest of the twig being bare, if the 

 tree is mature. Young trees, two and three years old, 

 have needles 12-15 inches long, which stand upright 

 at the top of the trunk and give it a peculiar and 

 splendid appearance. If the trees are older the needles 

 are from 7-9 inches long, and each needle shows 3 

 sharp, slightly dented edges ; the outer side is rounded, 

 the two inner sides are flat, so that the 3 needles fit 

 exactly together and form a long, thin, cylinder; they 

 are, for the rest, straight, or only a little twist, the 

 same breadth throughout, and but a little pointed at the 

 end. The young trees grow no side-branches until 

 they are 4-5 years old and 5-6 ft. high, retaining until 

 then their long, beautiful, upstanding tuft. The cones 

 of this variety are 6-8 inches long and glisten with the 

 plentiful resin they sweat out. Each scale has a rather 

 wide eye, with a small, sharp point in the middle. The 

 trunks grow tall and strong, and their bark is smooth. 



2. The Loblolly-pine.* It has likewise 3 needles in 

 each sheath, and similar to those of the first, except 

 that each needle is somewhat twisted. In young sap- 

 lings the length of the needles is not more than 5-8 

 inches, in mature trees, not more than 4-6; but they 

 are not, as with the pitch-pine, found only at the ends 

 of the twigs, clothing them as a rule entirely. Also 

 the branches stand up more and are shorter, whereas 

 with the foregoing variety the half-naked boughs 

 spread more out and hang somewhat. Their cones 

 are like the former, but shorter. The bark of the 

 trunk is rough. 



3. The Birds-nest pine. This name has been given 

 it because all along the trunk a number of small, round, 



* Pinus Tada. Linn. v. Wangenheim, Beytr., 41. 



