120 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, J.rte, and Letters. 



fection. . From a resemblance in tlie color of bark, and the 

 ger^.ral configuration of tlie tree, wlien seen at a distance to 

 the pinus resinosa, it has been named by the immigrants from 

 the eastern states, yellow and pitch pine. The trees grow tall 

 and straight, with smooth stems, and produce a yellowish 

 wood not unlike the wood of the 2>. Resinosa. Though the 

 wood is hard, the tree has but little sap wood, and in most 

 trees it is tolerably clear of pitch. When sawed the timber is 

 applied to all purposes where white pine is used by us, and it 

 may be reckoned as a good building material. The cones are 

 about the size of the pitch pine of the south, three inches by 

 two. The nutlets are armed with a wing an inch long, that 

 floats them to a great distance fi'om the parent tree. The 

 lea'ves are short, dark green throughout the year, grow in pairs, 

 and are often six inches long. It is a rapidly growing tree, 

 and more ornamental than the Austrian, or the red pine. 

 Thousands of these pines have been peeled by the Indians in 

 times of famine with them, for the sake of the cambrium, 

 which is sweet and nuritious, and used by them for food. In 

 this respect it seems allied to the pinus Lamberti, sugar pine 

 of California. This species has been the great source from 

 which the ties, bridge and other timber for the Pacific railroad 

 have been obtained. 



Pinus flexilis is the white pine of the Kocky mountains. In 

 contour it resembles the white pine of the northern states, ^jmws 

 strohus. The dark green leaves grow in fives, and are six inches 

 in length, fine, and flexile, hence its name. The bark of old 

 trees is dark, and deeply furrowed. The cones are beautifully 

 formed, four inches long and three in their greatest diameter ; 

 seeds are large as peas, sweet, oily and edible. The wood 

 is white, but the tree produces so mu.ch sap wood, that it is 

 of less value than i:lie pinus Engelmani, for building timber, 

 and is as hard, hence it is not often sawed into timber. The 

 tree is a large one, often reaching one hundred feet in height, 

 with limbs starting out at about twenty feet fi'om the ground. 



