BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF LOBLOLLY PINE. 113 



of this piue does not flow freely aud hardens so rapidly on exposure that it can not be profitably 

 worked. An experienced operator at the place confirmed this to be the experience everywhere 

 with this kind of pine. The statements regarding the use of this tree for its resinous product can 

 therefoi-e only be explained by a confusion of names applied to the different pines, and it was 

 most likely the Cuban Pine to which the operators referred. 



In a report lately published by the State geologist of North Carolina the remarlcis made: " It 

 is said that the crude turpentine of the. Loblolly Pine has so nuich water in it that it yields only 

 a poor spirits of turpentine."' This, to be sure, is a. misconception; but the statement confirms 

 the fact that this species is not ta])ped for its resin, which had also been observed by the writer a 

 short time previously in the Loblolly Piue forests of North Carolina as well as South Carolina and 

 Georgia. 



Fromanextensiveseriesof analyses of the resinoffresh specimens of both Longleaf and Loblolly 

 Pine collected in Georgia and South Carolina, it appears that the wood of Loblolly contains but 

 little less resin than that of Longleaf; that the distribution of resin in the log is practically the 

 same, and, what seems most remarkable, that the composition of the resin, as far as the relation 

 of si)irits of turpentine and rosin is concerned, is nearly the same (being (piitc variable in both), so 

 that the absence of free " bleeding" or abundant resin exudation cau not be due to a lack of li(juid 

 oil, but must be caused by other physiological peculiarities. 



NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION. 



The Loblolly and half a dozen other species, mostly Pacific and Mexican,^ form a natural group 

 of timber trees included in Englemann's Etitadw, which might fitly be designated as the group 

 "torch pines," and can be characterized as embracing trees, mostly of larger size, with more or 

 less resinous, coarse grained wood, long leaves by threes in a fascicle, and with lateral cones pro- 

 vided with thick, woody scales bearing a stout, sharp prickle. The ilistinctive characters of this 

 species have been early recognized by Pluckenet, one of the earliest writers on American ijlants' 

 and Linna'us described the tree under the name of Flints f<r<hi ^ which was adopted subsequently 

 by all botanists. The name given to this pine by Linnanis in J 75.? has never been changed. In 

 1789 Aitau established a variety, P. Twda var. tcmiifolia (Hort. Kew., Ill, 3(58), which, however, 

 has not received recognition. 



BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION AND MORPHOLOGY. 



Leaves three in the close, elongated sheath, 6 to 9 inches loug, slender, stiff, rigidly jioiuted, channeled, and 

 strongly keeled on the upper side, of a pale green color; cones nearly sessile, single, in twos or threes, roundish-ovate 

 or ovate-oblong, aliout 3 inches long, with the scales hard and woody, tbe pyramidal apophysis with a strong, 

 recurved prickle; seeds small, their wing an inch or over long. 



This species is easily distinguished from its most frequent associates — the Longleaf and Short- 

 leaf Pine — by its slightly glaucous foliage at all seasons, and by its more slender and almost 

 smooth terminal buds; from the former and from the latter by the more robust shoots and buds; 

 and from both the species named, and also from the Cuban Pine, by its characteristic cones. 



ROOT, STEM, AND BRANCH SYSTEM. 



The stout taproot of this pine is assisted by powerful laterals which divide into numerous 

 branches and descend into the soil, usually at a short distance from the trunk; but where a hard, 

 compact subsoil is encountered they are often seen to run for a greater or less distance near the 

 surface. In the localities most favorable to its growth, the massive trunk of the Loblolly Piiu'- is in 

 its dimensions not starpassed by any other pine of the Atlantic forest region. In such cases the 

 tree attains a height of 120 to 150 feet aud over, with a diameter of from 4 to 5 feet breast high, 

 and with the trunk clear of limbs for a length of from 60 to 80 feet. 



' The Forests, Forest Lands, and Forest Products of Eastern North Carolina, by W.AV. Ashe. Bulletin 5 of the 

 Geological Survey of North Carolina, 1895. 



2 Engolmann's revision of the genus Finns. Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences, ;vol. iv, p. 177. 

 'Pluckenet: Amalges turn botanioum. London, 1696. 

 ■•Linna'us: Species plantarnm, 1000, 1753. 

 17433_Ko. 13 8 



