The Pines 



stiff, yellow-green leaves. It is the dominant pine of the coast 

 of Mendocino County, and follows down in sight of the ocean 

 into Lower California. The oblique cones, whose thickened 

 scales are armed with sharp, strong beaks, are conspicuous by 

 their persistence for years unopened on the branch. It is rare for 

 them to fall, even after they open and discharge the seed. They 

 usually remain throughout the lifetime of the tree, but strangely 

 are never swallowed up by the growth of the branch that bears 

 them. 



The Table-Mountain Pine {P. pungens, Michx.), with 

 cones quite as formidable as those of the preceding species, and 

 closely resembling them in appearance, has the same tardy habit 

 of opening and casting its cones that marks P. muricata. But P. 

 pungens is Eastern, growing on gravelly ridges o^ ^.he Appalachian 

 Mountains from Pennsylvania and New Jersey to North Carolina 

 and Tennessee. It has clustered blue-green foliage of sombre 

 hue, and forms a flattened, irregular head, its long, horizontal 

 branches often drooping, but the twigs erect. The wood is 

 used for fuel and for charcoal in some localities. Its dingy colour, 

 barren habitat and scraggly growth earn it the name, "poverty 

 pine." The thin bark, breaking into loose, scaly plates, is 

 probably responsible for the name, " hickory pine." There is no 

 quality of the brittle, coarse-gained wood to account for it. 



It is interesting to note in Bulletin lo of the Kansas Agricul- 

 tural College, which is located at Manhattan in the western part 

 of the state, that P. pungens is one of the hardiest and best pines 

 for that region. The leaves are a decided yellow-green there, a 

 cheerful contrast to the sombre Austrian pines so generally planted. 

 The waywardness of the tree's habit is made a virtue. The 

 terminal shoot bends strongly out of the vertical, producing a 

 grotesque leaning tree, which breaks the monotony of the prim 

 and formal European species with which it is successfully grouped 

 in grounds of considerable extent. The following Western 

 species and varieties were tried and failed on the college grounds: 

 P. contorta, edulis, Jeffreyi and ponderosa. Besides P. pungens, 

 other Eastern pines that were successfully grown were n^/c/i^ and 

 echinata. P. Strobus grew often into handsome, shapely speci- 

 mens, but died young in the hot winds. 



The Scrub Pine {P. contorta, Lond.) is one of four stunted, 

 gnarly, round-shouldered trees that are prostrated b/exposure to 



48 



