282 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



closed at the base in a paper sheath. The dark green 

 needles are lyi to 4 inches long, stout and stiff. Sugar 

 pine received its name from the res'n that exudes from 

 the bark. When it is injured, white, crisp globules are 

 formed which are palatable and sweet to the taste, 

 but which should be eaten in limited quantities. 



Early in the spring the 

 light yellow pollen-bearing 

 flowers add a touch of 

 brighter color to the dark 

 foliage. These flowers are 

 one -half inch to an inch 

 long, borne in clusters on 

 the young twigs. The cone- 

 producing flowers are light 

 green, appearing two or 

 more together at the tips of 

 the branches. It requires 

 two years for the seed to 

 mature, and when fully 

 developed the cones are of 

 startling size — sometimes 

 nearly 2 feet long, and with 

 an average length of 12 to 

 18 inches. Drooping from 

 the extreme ends of the 

 branches, the young green 

 cones resemble the weights 

 of a Swiss clock. When 

 the scales expand to permit 

 the seeds to disperse, the 

 trees resemble huge Christ- 

 mas trees strikingly deco- 

 rated with shining brown 

 cone ornaments, making it 

 easy to recognize this tree 

 from near or far. The 

 cones contain 200 to 400 

 dark brown seeds nearly as 

 large as grains of com, but 

 plump and containing an 

 edible kernel that is relished 

 by human beings as well as 

 an army of squirrels. The 

 seeds have a short and very 

 broad wing attached to one 

 end. The seed is seldom 

 carried by the wind to a 

 greater distance than the 

 height of the tree. 



Sugar pine has a strong, 

 widespreading root system, 

 and is not often uprooted 

 by wind storms. As with 

 other forest trees, forest 

 fires, grazing animals, snow 

 and other agencies at times 

 cause serious damage to 

 sugar pines. Insects an- 



SUGAR PINES (PINUS 



Two suRar pine trees growiriK in the Stanislaus National Forest, California. 

 Sugar pine belongs to the white pine group, having five leaves in a cluster. In 

 addition to its high commercial value, it is a very beautiful tree. It is gratifying 

 that the Federal Government has declared a quarantine against shipments of 

 white pine, currant and gooseberry nursery stock from the eastern white pine 

 region, to prevent the introduction of the white pine blister disease into the sugar 

 pine forests. 



nually destroy large quantities of merchantable sugar 

 pine timber, the principal losses being due to several 

 kinds of bark borers. At present the damage caused 

 by fungi is of minor importance, but since sugar pine is 

 one of the hosts of the white pine blister disease, there is 

 a possibility that this destructive parasite may be intro- 

 duced into the West from 

 the eastern white pine re- 

 gion and cause great loss. 



Sugar pine is usually 

 found growing with western 

 yellow pine, or Douglas fir, 

 and white fir, and less im- 

 portant species, such as 

 incense cedar and Jeffry 

 pine. Its best growth is 

 where the annual rainfall is 

 40 inches or more. It has 

 been found growing at an 

 altitude as low as 600 feet 

 above sea level and as high 

 as 11,000 feet. The mer- 

 chantable stands are fovmd 

 at altitudes of 3,000 to 

 6,000 feet in the northern 

 Sierras, and from 5,000 to 

 9.000 feet in the southern 

 Sierras. Young sugar pines 

 require partial shade, but as 

 they mature they demand 

 an increasing amount of 

 light. Rapid growth de- 

 pends on an adequate sup- 

 ply of moisture in the soil 

 and air. The tree grows on 

 many kinds of soils but 

 avoids hot and dry slopes 

 or wet and poorly-drained 

 situations, and prefers moist, 

 loose, deep sandy loam. 



Sugar pine grows most 

 rapidly between the ages of 

 80 and 100 years. In the 

 virgin forest the average 

 size of a 100-year old tree 

 is 18 inches in diameter, 

 breast height, and 90 feet 

 high. Because of the dense 

 shade, growth in virgin for- 

 est is very slow during the 

 first half century. The 

 average height of a 40-year- 

 old tree is only about 5 feet, 

 as determined by numerous 

 measurements made by the 

 Forest Service. Occasion- 

 ally sugar pines live to be 600 

 years old, but most of them 

 do not hvc beyond 500 years. 



LA.MHERTIANA) 

 CALIFOR.N'IA 



NEAR STRAWIiERRY, 



