﻿Trees of New York State 79 



PINACEAE 



Piims rigida Mill. 



Pitch Pine 



Habit — A tree occasionanv 70-80 feet in height, usually 40-60 feet tall, with 

 a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet. Crown in young trees narrowly pyramidal 

 and open, the horizontal branches stout, rigid, produced in regular, rather 

 distant whorls. In old trees the cro^\Ti becomes irregular, thin and 

 rounded, consisting of coarse, gnarled branches, often pendulous at the 

 tip, bearing tufts of yellow-green foliage. 



Leaves — Borne in fascicles of 3, needle-shaped, sharply serrulate, stout, 

 blunt-pointed, rigid, yellowish green, 3-.5 inches long, divergent from a 

 short sheath, falling during the second or third season. 



Flowers — ■ Appearing in May and early June, monoecious, borne in cones. 

 Staminate cones, clustered at the base of the growth of the season, about 

 % of an inch long, cylindrical, somewhat flexuous, yellow at maturity. 

 Ovulate cones solitary or clustered, lateral near the top of the growth 

 of the season, subglobose, about ^/2 of an inch long, borne on short, stout 

 stalks, upright and reddish green at pollination. Scales acuminate, 

 divergent. 



Fruit — An ovate-conical or ovoid, prickly, green cone, 1 to 3 inches long, 

 sessile or nearly so, usually at right angles to the branch, attaining full 

 size during early autumn of the second year, opening tardily during the 

 late fall and ■winter, and remaining on the trees for a decade or more. 

 Cone-scales thickened at the apex, armed with a short, rigid, recurved 

 prickle. Seeds dark brown or dull black, AA-inged, about V^ of an inch 

 long. 



Winter characters — Branchlets stout, roughened by the persistent, decurrent 

 leaf-bases of the scale-leaves which subtended the fascicles, at first dull 

 orange, later dark grayish brown. Buds V2-% of an inch long, ovate 

 or obovate-oblong, acute, wath lanceolate, dark chestnut-brown scales, 

 scarious and fringed at the margins. Mature bark dark reddish brown, 

 thick, divided by deep furrows into broad, flat-topped ridges. 



Habitat — Occurs on gravelly uplands and sandy plains, rarely in cold 

 swamps. Thrives Avell on barren sandy sites. Common in the north 



on glacial soils. 



Range — New Bruns^vick to Lake Ontario, south in the Atlantic States to 

 northern Georgia, and west into West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

 Zones B and C. 



Uses — Of less importance than White or Eed Pine as a source of lumber. 

 Wood light, soft, coarse-gi-ained, brittle, light brown fir red, with thick 

 yelloArish-wliite sapAvood. Occasionally converted into lumber. Of some 

 value in reforestation because of its adaptability to poor soils and its 

 fire-resisting qualities (tliick, corky bark). ^lature trees generally have 

 a picturesque appearance. 



