514 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



branches varies from 17 to 21 inches for each inch of 

 diameter, according to the region in which the trees grow. 

 Knowledge of this law of growth is used by the forester 

 in determining the number of trees per acre required to 

 produce the highest profits in a well-managed forest. 



The light brown bark of old trees is rather thick and 

 is broken into squarish plates which are covered with 

 thin, cinnamon-red scales that peel off easily. Young 

 twigs have smooth, violet-colored bark ; twigs of shortleaf 

 pine dift'er from those of other pines with which it grows 

 in being brittle and easily snapped off. Until maturitv, 

 loblolly iiines ha\'e somewhat thicker and darker colored 

 bark than the shortleaf, and the furrows are deeper. 



A large number of misleading local names embarrasses 

 the shortleaf pine. In 

 fifteen states, from New 

 York to Louisiana, it is 

 often called Yellow pine. 

 Tn some of these states it 

 is called Spruce pine, Bull 

 pine, Pitch pine, Poor 

 pine, Rosemary pine. 

 Slash pine or Old Field 

 pine. Another name that 

 is much used, especially 

 for the lumber, is North 

 Carolina pine, or North 

 Carolina Yellow pine. 



Shortleaf pine, the 

 name that fits it best and 

 is most used, is derived 

 from its short, slender 

 leaves. The soft, flex- 

 ible needles are 3 to 5 

 inches long and are short 

 only in comparison with 

 those of the longleaf 

 pine, which are three 

 times this length. As a 

 rule two needles are 

 found enclosed at the 

 • base by a short per- 

 sistent sheath but occa- 

 sionally there may be 

 three, or rarely even four 

 leaves in a bundle. The 

 foliage varies in color, 

 according to locality, 

 from deep blue-green to 

 pale green. 



The flower buds ap- 

 pear on shortleaf pine 

 during the latter part of 

 the winter, opening in 

 March in the far South, 

 and in April or May in 

 its northern limits. Dense 

 clusters of pollen-pro- 

 ducing flowers, about an 



SHORTLEAF PINE LEAVES, SEED, CONE AND SEEDLING 



a— Young seedling. 



b— Same seedling after one month's growth. _ 



c — Same seedling at end of first season showing early bundles of true leaves. 



d— Two-leaf and three-leaf clusters. 



e— Branch with mature closed cones or burrs. 



f— Cone scale and seed with wing detached. 



g — Mature cone opened. 



inch long, are borne at the tips of the twigs. Each flower 

 is a pale purple cylinder of numerous overlapping pollen 

 sacs and surrounded at the base with 8 or 9 small scales. 

 These flowers drop from the tree as soon as the pollen 

 has been discharged. One to four cone-forming flowers 

 are produced just below the tips of the young shoots. 

 They are oblong bodies about one-fourth of an inch in 

 length composed of numerous overlapping pointed scales 

 of a delicate rose-pink color. The cones develop slowly, 

 the seed ripening only after two seasons' growth. 



The mature cones are attached \ery close to the branch 

 and have a leathery brown color. Thev are llA to 2jX 

 inches long and nearly as wide when o|)eii. Each scale has 

 a thickened four-angled tip which is smooth, or armed 



with a weak, curved 

 prickle. The cone opens 

 early in the autumn to 

 discharge the small tri- 

 angular seeds which are 

 all shed by December, 

 although the old cones 

 may continue to hang on 

 the branches two or 

 three years longer. A 

 relatively large wing 

 about half an inch in 

 length is attached to one 

 end of the seed and en- 

 ables a strong wind to 

 carry the seed from one- 

 eighth to one-fourth of a 

 mile. A light breeze will 

 waft the seeds a distance 

 equal to two to five times 

 the height of the mother 

 tree. A pound of clean 

 seed contains from 50,- 

 000 to 70.000 separate 

 seeds and ordinarily 

 germinates sufficiently 

 well to ])roduce from 

 25,000 to 40.000 seed- 

 lings. The seed retains 

 its vitality well for sev- 

 eral years when prop- 

 erly stored. 



Shortleaf pine has a 

 jironounced tap root and 

 strong side roots : for 

 this reason the trees are 

 not easily thrown by the 

 wind. The long tap root 

 enables it to grow 

 thriftily in soils not well 

 supplied with moisture, 

 such as dry sands or 

 high ridges. ( )ne in- 

 stance is noted in which 

 an eight-vear-old short- 



