2258 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART 111. 



the conservatories during win- 

 ter. He had seen one 16 ft. 

 high, without a single lateral 

 branch ; but, notwithstanding 

 this, its trunk threw out nume- 

 rous shoots or tufts of leaves, 

 from adventitious or dormant 

 buds. Some plants having stood \ 

 out during the severe winter of 

 1829-30, M. Vilmorin is in hopes 

 that it may be acclimatised in 

 the neighbourhood of Paris. 



Geography and History. A 

 native of the United States, 

 from North Carolina to Florida, 

 abounding in extensive forests 

 near the sea coast. "Towards the 

 north, the long-leaved pine first 

 makes its appearance near Nor- 

 folk in Virginia, where the pine 

 barrens begin. It seems to be 

 especially assigned to dry sandy 

 soils ; and it is found, almost without interruption, in the lower part of the Caro- 

 linas, Georgia, and the Floridas, over a tract of more than 600 miles long 

 from north-east to south-west, and more than 100 miles broad from the sea 

 towards the mountains of the Carolinas and Georgia. Where it begins to 

 show itself towards the river Nuse, it is united with the 

 loblolly pine (Pinus Tae^da), the yellow pine (P. mitis), the 

 pond pine (P. serotina), the black Jack oak (Quercus nigra), 

 and the scrub oak (Q. Bannister/) : but, immediately beyond 

 Raleigh, it holds almost exclusive possession of the soil, and 

 is seen in company with the pines just mentioned, only on 

 the edges of the swamps enclosed in the barrens ; even there, 

 not more than one tree in a hundred is of another species. 

 With this exception, the long-leaved pine forms the unbroken 

 mass of woods which covers this extensive country ; but, be- 

 tween Fayetteville and Wilmington, in North Carolina, the 

 scrub oak is found, in some districts, mixed with it in the 

 barrens; and, except this species of pine, it is the only tree # 

 capable of subsisting on so dry and sterile a soil." (Mic/ix.) 

 Wangenheim, according to Lambert, says that dry land does 

 not suit this pine, but only low marshy spots ; whence So- 

 lander's specific name of palustris; which, Michaux very 

 properly observes, gives a false idea of the habitat of the 

 plant. P. australis has been cultivated in England since 1730; 

 but being (as we have already observed) rather tender, though it will stand 

 the climate of London in the open air without protection, it is not common 

 in collections. M. Michaux recommends it for the south of France, and 

 particularly for the neighbourhood of Bordeaux, in soils and situations where 

 the pinaster flourishes. 



Properties and Uses. The timber of the long-leaved pine is applied to a 

 great variety of purposes in the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Floridas. Four 

 fifths of the houses are built of it, except the roof, which is covered with 

 shingles of cypress ; though sometimes the shingles also are made of pine, in 

 which case they require to be renewed after 15 or 18 years, owing to the 

 warmth and humidity of the climate. It is generally used for the enclosure 

 of cultivated fields ; and, in the southern states, it is preferred before all other 

 pines in naval architecture. No other species is exported from the southern 

 states to the West Indies ; and it is also sent in large quantities to Liver- 



