﻿Trees of New York State 81 



PINACEAE 



Piiius virgini.'ina Mill. [Pinus inops Ait.] 



Scrub Pine, Jersey Pine 



Habit — In Xew York State, a small tree usually 30-40 feet in height, with 

 short trunk rarely more than 18 inches in diameter. Farther south and 

 west it occasionally attains a height of 100 feet, with a trunk 2-3 feet 

 in diameter. Crow^l in young trees pyramidal, reaching to the ground; 

 in older trees open, flat-topped, pyramidal, wdth long horizontal or pen- 

 dulous branches in remote whorls. 



Leaves — Borne in fascicles of 2, needle-shaped, semi-eylindrieal, rather stout, 

 closely serrulate, acute, soft and flexible, generally twisted and diver- 

 gent, bright green and fragrant, 1^/2-3 inches long, persisting three or 

 four years. 



Flowers — Appearing in April and May, monoecious, borne in cones. Stami- 

 nate cones in crowded cJusters at the base of the gro-\%'th of the season, 

 about Vs of an inch long, oblong, pale orange-brown at maturity. 

 Ovulate cones solitary or paired near the middle of the gi-owth of the 

 season, subglobose, about fs of an inch long, long-pedunculate, pale 

 green tinged mth rose. 



Fruit — An oblong-conical, prickly, bright green cone, 2-3 inches long, erect, 

 nearly sessile, often slightly curved, attaining full size the second autumn, 

 turning dark reddish-brown, and slowly setting free the seeds. Opened 

 cones persist on the branches for 3-4 years. Cone-scales thin, flattened, 

 thickened at the apex, and terminated by a prickle.. Seeds pale brown, 

 winged, about % of an inch long. 



Winter characters — ■ Branchlets slender, tough, rather flexible, at first glau- 

 cous and greenish purple, at length grayish bro^^•n. Buds %-^/^ of an 

 inch in length, ovate, acute, with ovate, acute, dark chestnut-brown scales,' 

 the scale-tips soon reflexed. Mature bark dark browoi tinged with red, 

 thin, shallowly fissured ^^'ith scale-like plates. 



Habitat — ■ Thrives on poor, sandy soils, spreading rapidly over abandoned 

 fields and cut-over areas. Frequent on the sand-barrens of New Jersey. 



Range — Long Island and Staten Island, New York, south through eastern 

 I'ennsylvania to Georgia and Alabama, Avest to Indiana, Kentucky and 

 Tennessee. Attains its best development west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

 Zone A. 



Uses — Of little value as a timber tree in the east because of its small size. 

 Wood light, soft, brittle, coarse-grained, durable in contact Avith the soil, 

 pale orange with thick, nearly white sapwood. Used for fuel and occa- 

 sionally converted into lumber. In reforestation, important as a " cover ' ' 

 tree because of its rapid regeneration on exhausted lands. Of little 

 ornamental value. 



