THE CUBAN PINE. 



By (!iiAitLES Mdiiit. I'll. D. 



INTRODUCTOllY. 



Coiilined withiu narrow limits along the coast of tlic extreme Southern States east of the 

 Mississippi River, little known and mostly confounded witli its allied species, the value of the Cuban 

 rine has been scarcely recognized. A closer investigation of tlie inopertiesof its wood, of its life 

 history, and of the part it plays among the forest growtli soon discloses its economic importance. 

 Convinced that to meet proper appreciation the merits possessed by this pine need only to be 

 made more generally known, their consideration in this place among the biologii^al investigations 

 of the more important timber trees of the coniferous order will explain itself. 



This tree was not known to the earlier American botanists. Elliott first' took notice of it as 

 a distinct form, and he regarded it as a variety of the Loblolly Pine. It remained still practically 

 unknown as a separate species for another half century, until near the beginning of the past 

 decade, when it was again brought to notice of botanists by Dr. Millishamj), of Bluftton, S. C; 

 Dr. Engelmanu exhibited clearly its specific characters, and for the first time directed attention 

 to the economic value of this ])ine by discussing the development of the tree and the ([ualities of 

 its timber.'- On account of the coarser grain of its wood and the large amount of sapwood, this 

 timber was held to be of little value, and the tree received little or no attention by the lumberman. 

 It is only very lately, especially since kiln-drying has become more general, that its value is being 

 recognized and appreciated, and under the name of "Slash Pine" it is cut and sold Mithont 

 discrimiuation with the Longleaf Pine, witli which it is usually associated. 



aEOaKAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Cuban Pine is a tree of the coast region in the subtropical region of North America east of 

 the ^Mississippi River, and also of the neighboring tro])ics, being found in Honduras and Cuba 

 (see PI. III). In the United States the tree is coutiued to the eastern belt of the Austroriparian 

 or Louisiauiau life zone of American biologists, from 33° north latitude in South Carolina along 

 the coast to the extremity of the peninsula of Florida. Toward the west the tree extends 

 along the coast of the Gulf to the I'earl River Valley. It is principally restricted to the coast 

 plain, but on the Gixlf Coast and along the water courses it extends inland to a distance of fully 

 (50 miles from the sea. On the Atlantic Coast it penetrates the interior nearly to the limit of the 

 coast i)ine belt, as has been observed in (ieorgia in the valley of the Ocmulgee River, over 100 

 miles distant from tide water. Groves of the Cuban pine slvirt the low shores of the numerous 

 inlets and estuaries of tliese coasts, and cover the outlying islands. More or less associated with 

 the Loblolly and the Longleaf Pine, it forms a part of the timber growth of the open pine forests 

 which in unbroken monotony cover the liats for long distances. It is only in the lower part of 

 Florida, where the tree extends from the Atlantic across to the Gulf of Mexico, south of ("ape 

 Canaveral and Biscayne Bay, that, as the only pine there, the Cuban pine forms forests by itself. 

 Toward thi^ interior it occurs scattered among the varied growth of broad-leafed evergreens and 

 cone-bearing trees which cover the swamps along the streams. Since it is invariably cut and sold 



' Elliott, sketch 2, page 26.3. 



-Engelmanu: Reviaion of the genus /'imct auil (U'S( riptiou of I'imis eUiollii. Traasactious St. l^ouis Acad. Sci., 

 vol. i, 1880. 



