BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF LOBLOLLY PINE. 121 



of this pine does not flow freely and hardens so rapidly on exposure that it can not be profitably 

 worked. An experienced operator at the place confirmed this to be the experience everywhere 

 with this kind of pine. The statements regarding the use of this tree for its resinous product can 

 therefore only be explained by a confusion of names applied to the different pines, and it was 

 most likely the Cuban Pine to which the operators referred. (See additional notes on p. 133.) 



In a report lately published by the State geologist of North Carolina the remark is made: " It 

 is said that the crude turpentine of the Loblolly Pine has so much water in it that it yields only 

 a poor spirits of turpentine." 1 This, to be sure, is a misconception; but the statement confirms 

 the fact that this species is not tapped for its resin, which had also been observed by the writer a 

 short time previously in the Loblolly Pine forests of North Carolina as well as South Carolina and 

 Georgia. 



From an extensive series of analyses of the resin of fresh specimens of both Longleaf and Loblolly 

 Pine collected in Georgia and South Carolina, it appears that the wood of Loblolly contains but 

 little less resin than that of Longleaf; that the distribution of resin in the log is practically the 

 same, and, what seems most remarkable, that the composition of the resin, as far as the relation 

 of spirits of turpentine and rosin is concerned, is nearly the same (being quite variable in both), so 

 that the absence of free " bleeding " or abundant resin exudation can not be due to a lack of liquid 

 oil, but must be caused by other physiological peculiarities. 



NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION. 



The Loblolly and half a dozen other species, mostly Pacific and Mexican, 2 form a natural group 

 of timber trees included in Eugleinaun's Eutcedte, which might fitly be designated as the group 

 " torch pines," and can be characterized as embracing trees, mostly of larger size, with more or 

 less resinous, coarse grained wood, long leaves by threes in a fascicle, and with lateral cones pro- 

 vided with thick, woody scales bearing a stout, sharp prickle. The distinctive characters of this 

 species have been early recognized by Plukeuet, one of the earliest writers on American plants 3 

 and Linmpus described the tree under the name of Pinus ta'da 4 which was adopted subsequently 

 by all botanists. The name given to this pine by Linnaeus in 1753 has never been changed. In 

 1789 Aiton established a variety, 1'. tceda a tenuifolia (Hort. Kew., Ill, 368), which, however, has 

 not received recognition. 



BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION AND MORPHOLOGY. 



Leaves three in the close, elongated sheath, 6 to 9 inches long, slender, stiff, rigidly pointed, chcinneled, and 

 strongly keeled on the upper side, of a pale green color ; cones nearly sessile, single, iu twos or threes, roundish-ovate 

 or ovate-oblong, about 3 inches long, with the scales hard and woody, the pyramidal apophysis with a strong, 

 recurved prickle ; seeds small, their wing an inch or over long. 



This species is easily distinguished from its most frequent associates the Longleaf and Short- 

 leaf pine by its slightly glaucous foliage at all seasons; by its more slender and almost smooth 

 terminal buds from the former; and from the latter by the more robust shoots and buds; and 

 from both the species named, and also from the Cuban Pine, by its characteristic cones. 



HOOT, STEM, AND BRANCH SYSTEM. 



The stout taproot of this pine is assisted by powerful laterals which divide into numerous 

 branches and descend into the soil, usually at a short distance from the trunk; but where a hard, 

 compact subsoil is encountered they are often seen to run for a greater or less distance near the 

 surface. In the localities most favorable to its growth, the massive trunk of the Loblolly Pine is in 

 its dimensions not surpassed by any other pine of the Atlantic forest region. In such cases the 

 tree attains a height of 120 to 150 feet and over, with a diameter of from 4 to 5 feet breast high, 

 and with the trunk clear of limbs for a length of from 60 to 80 feet. 



1 The Forests, Forest Lands, and Forest Products of Eastern North Carolina, by W. W. Ashe. I lul InJ n 5 of the 

 Geological Survey of North Carolina, 18!i.~>. 



'Eiigelmann, Revision of the Genus Pinus. Transactions of the Academy of Sciences, St. Louis, Vol. IV, p. 

 177. ixxf,. 



"Plukenet: Almagestura botanicum. London, 1696. 



<Linn;i'iix: Species Plautarum, p. 1000. 1753. 

 17433 No. J3 8 



