2240 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



TART III. 



Description. The pitch pine, 

 in America, Michaux informs 

 us, varies, according to soil 

 and situation, from 12 ft. or 

 15 ft. to 70 ft. or 80 ft. in height. 

 " The buds are always resinous ; 

 and its triple leaves vary in 

 length from l§in. to 7 in., ac- 

 cording to the degree of mois- 

 ture in the soil. The male cat- 

 kins are 1 in. long, straight, and 

 winged, like those of the pond 

 pine (P. serotina). The size of 

 the cones depends on the nature 

 of the soil, and varies from less 

 than 1 in. to more than Sin. in 

 length ; they are of a pyramidal 

 shape, and each scale is pointed 

 with an acute prickle of about 

 ■^ in, long. Whenever these 

 trees grow in masses, the cones 

 are dispersed singly over the 

 branches ; and the}' shed their 

 seeds the first autumn after they 

 are mature ; but, on solitary 

 trees, the cones are collected in 

 groups of four, five, or even a 

 larger number, and will remain 

 on the trees closed for several 

 years." (Michx.) This species 

 has a thick, blackish, deeply fur- 

 rowed bark. It is remarkable 

 for the number of its branches, 

 which occupy two thirds of its 

 trunk, and render its wood ex- 

 tremely knotty. The concen- 

 tric circles are widely distant; 

 and three fourths of the wood 

 of the larger trees consists of sap wood. On mountains and gravelly lands, the 

 wood is compact, heavy, and surcharged with resin ; whence is derived the 

 name of pitch pine. In swamps, on the con- 

 trary, it is light, soft, and composed almost 

 wholly of sap wood ; whence it is called the 

 sap pine. In British gardens, the tree is of as 

 rapid growth as P. TssWa and P. pungens ; the 

 specimen at Dropmore, after being 41 years 

 planted, being upwards of 31 ft, high. 



Geography and History. According to 

 Pursh, P. rigida is found on the plains from 

 New England to Virginia, growing, in favour- 

 able situations, to a very large tree, and either 

 in dry soil, or in very wet low ground. Mi- 

 chaux states that it is found throughout the 

 whole of the United States, with the exception 

 of the maritime part of the Atlantic districts, 

 and the fertile regions west of the Alleghany 

 Mountains,* but most al)undantly where the 

 soil is meagre. The moat northern points at 

 which Micliaux observed it were, the vicinity 

 of Brunswick, in the district of Maine; and Bur- 



