256 CONIFERS. 



ABIETINE^E. 



Character of the Sub-Order. Ovules 2, inverted, in the axil of a scale or 

 bract ; bracts imbricated, in fruit forming a woody cone. 



PIN US. PINE. 



Character of the Genus. Sterile catkins clustered about the base of the 

 young current-year shoots ; the fertile at the apex, and maturing the fol- 

 lowing year. Leaves 2 to 5 in a cluster, sheathed at the base by thin, chaff- 

 like persistent scales. 



Trees of a gregarious habit, often forming large forests ; found only 

 in the Northern hemisphere. 



Pin us austral is Michaux (P. palmtris Linne.) Long-leaved or Yellow 

 Pine. 



Description. Cones 6 to 10 inches long, cylindrical or conical-oblong, 

 the thick scales armed with a short recurved spine. Leaves in clusters of 3, 

 10 to 15 inches long, with long sheaths, crowded at the summit of thick 

 and very scaly branches. A tree 60 to 80 feet high, with thin-scaled bark 

 and very resinous wood, dividing near the summit into a number of spread- 

 ing branches. 



Habitat. From Southern Virginia southward, growing in sandy soil, 

 and often forming forests many miles in extent. 



Pin us Taeda Linne. Loblolly or Old-field Pine. 



Description. Cones 3 to 5 inches long, elongated-oblong, tapering, the 

 scales tipped with a stout incurved spine. Leaves in clusters of 2 or 3, 6 to 

 10 inches long, with long sheaths. A tree 50 to 100 feet high, with very 

 thick, furrowed bark, and sparingly resinous wood ; when growing in fields 

 it is low, with spreading branches. 



Habitat. In light soil, from Delaware southward ; often establishing 

 itself in fields exhausted by cultivation, hence called old-field pine. 



The above-described species may be taken as fairly representing the 

 medicinal trees of the genus, though many others possess similar or identi- 

 cal properties. Kecognizing this fact, and that the medicinal derivatives 

 of pine are procured from a variety of species, the United States Pharma- 

 copoeia mentions by name only the most important, Pinus australis, but 

 adds, "other species of pinus." 



Parts Used. The medicinal virtues of pine reside in its oleo-resin. 

 This exudes in greater or less quantity from all species when wounded, 

 most abundantly, however, from P. australis, and is official under the 

 name terebinthina turpentine. From it are procured oil of turpentine 

 and resin, while from the wood itself tar is obtained by the process of de- 

 structive distillation. 



Constituents. Turpentine, as it exudes from the tree, is a yellowish, 



