COMMERCIAL USES OF LONGLEAF PINE 



897 



Courtesy Majiiia: Arts Frcss. 



MAP SHOWING COMMERCIAL RANGE OF EONCEEAF PINE 



is not generally comnion in the longleaf territory. Its 

 wood is higlil_v valuable, but not so strong or resin- 

 ous as the longleaf, yet sometimes the two woods so 

 closely resemble each other that they cannot be dis- 

 tinguished even b}' an expert, so that they are sometimes 

 marketed together. Loblolly is more important as .i 

 second growth tree than in the original forest and seldom 

 occurs pure over large areas of virgin forest. Its wood 

 is coarse grained, and weak as compared with the others. 

 Most of the loblolly comes from the South Atlanti: 

 States, North Carolina being the leading producer. It 

 is generally marketed as North Carolina Pine. The 

 Cuban pine is, as its name indicates, a straggler from 

 the \\'est Indies. It occurs only along a narrow strip 

 near the coast from South Carolina to Louisiana. Its 

 lumber is valuable and more or less resembles longleaf, 

 and is marketed along with it. 



The longleaf itself occurs from the neighborhood of 

 Norfolk, \'irginia. south along the coastal plain, seldom 

 more than Soil miles from the coast to Cape Canaveral 

 and Tampa, and west along the Gulf Coast to Trinity 

 River in eastern Texas. 



NEEDLES 9 TO 15 INCHES IN LENGTH 



Although the wood of longleaf may be at times diffi- 

 cult to distinguish from that of some of the other south- 

 ern pines, the tree itself is absolutely characteristic, and 

 once seen is always 

 known. There are 

 other pines with long 

 leaves or needles, but 

 this tree is ///(• long- 

 leaf pine, and its 

 needles are from 9 

 to l.j inches in length. 

 The tree itself is tall 

 and dignified in ap- 

 pearance. At matur- 

 ity the crown is wide- 

 spreading and flat- 

 topped, and does not 

 descend \-erv far 



down the trunk. It is composed of a few large irregular 

 branches. While it lacks the symmetry of the white 

 ]iine crown, it is by no means scraggly or fantastic. 

 There is nothing "japanesy'' about the longleaf. 



The tree attains large size, but it cannot rival white 

 j.ine or hemlnck, the two largest conifers of the Eastern 

 states, in this respect. Trees 36 inches in diameter breast 

 high and 120 feet tall are exceptional. A tree in Marion 

 County, Mississippi, is 43 inches in diameter, but like 

 most trees of the largest diameter is not of great height, 

 probably not more than 80 feet. 



Longleaf suffers from a super-abundance of common 

 names. No less than twenty-seven are listed. Most of 



Couytcsy Manual .-Iris Press. 



MAGNIFIED CROSS-SECTION OF LONGLEAF PINE 



Tliis shows alternating bands of i)oriis spring wood and dense summer- 

 wood, and spring and summerwood band together making one annual 

 ring. Note resin duct near center of the cut. 



them are trade names, composed of various combinations 

 of the words longleaf, or leaved, longstraw, yellow, hard, 

 pitch, southern and the names of various states where the 

 tree grows. The original trade name was North Caro- 

 lina pine, which later became Georgia pine. In the ex- 

 pi >rt trade the wood is generally called pitch pine. Today 

 i! seems that the name of longleaf is being more used than 



ever before, and this 

 is as it should be, 

 for such an im- 

 portant and charac- 

 teristic tree is entitled 

 to a distinctive name. 

 The technical name, 

 Pinus palustris is un- 

 fortunate. Palustris 

 is derived from the 

 Latin palus, or palus- 

 ter, wh i c h means 

 swamp. Lon g I e a f 

 never grows in a 

 swamp. 



