Handbook of Trees of the Northern States and Canada. 13 



The Jack Pine attains its greatest size in 

 the northwestern part of its range, where it i-^ 

 often 70 or 80 ft. in height with trunk 2 or 3 

 ft. in diameter, and forms fore.sts of con- 

 siderable extent. Throughout the eastern part 

 of its range, however, it is much le.ss abundant 

 and more reduced in stature, commonly throw- 

 ing out its hranelies immediately above the 

 ground as shown in our bark picture. Its 

 short needles and small cones incurved upon 

 the branchlets quickly distinguish it from all 

 of its neighbors. It develops a rather sym- 

 metrical open top of straightish branches and 

 tough Hexible branchlets and its trunk is 

 vested in a dark reddish brown bark rough 

 with irregular scaly plates and ridges. 



The wood, of which a cubic foot when abso- 

 lutely dry weighs 29.67 lbs., is light, soft, not 

 strong, and of a reddish brown color with 

 thick lighter sap-wood. It is used for fuel and 

 occasionally for railway ties, posts and lumber.2 



Leaves in remote clusters of 2, % to 1 Va in. 

 long, stout, spreading, more or less curved and dis- 

 tributed along the branchlet, with 2 flbro-vascular 

 bundles and resin-ducts within the parenchyma. 

 Flowers: staminate .yellow, in crowded clusters ; 

 pistillate darl{ purple, singly or few together and 

 occasionally clusters on same shoot. Cones small, 

 lVo-2 in. long, pointed and strongly incurved, 

 narrow conical-ovoid, oblique at base, sessile and 

 scales thickened at apex and furnished with a 

 weak incurved or deciduous prickle ; seed rounded, 

 triangular, nearly black and with full wing about 

 >y in. long and widest near the middle. 



1. Syn. P. Banksiana Lamb. 



2. A. W., IV, 99. 



