American Forestry 



VOL. XXI 



SEPTEMBER, 1915 



No. 261 



The Longleaf Pine 



Identification and Characteristics 



THE longleaf pine is one of the two most valuable 

 timber pines in the eastern United States. The 

 other is the white pine. The longleaf is found 

 from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the 

 Coast from southeastern Virginia to central Florida, and 

 thence westward in the Gulf States to eastern Texas. In 

 this region it grows in 

 a belt about 125 miles 

 wide. 



It has many names, 

 fully twenty-eight, and 

 chief among them are 

 yellow pine and 

 Georgia pine, but it is 

 best and most generally 

 known as Longleaf 

 Pine. 



It is a tall tree, 

 reaching a height of 

 one hundred to one 

 hundred and twenty 

 feet, and a diameter 

 of two to three feet. 

 Trees of this size have 

 reache d their full 

 growth and are one 

 hundred and seventy- 

 five or more years old. 



The stem of the 

 longleaf pine is 

 straight. It tapers but 

 slightly. It is free 

 from limbs for more 

 than one-half way to 

 its top. When it has 

 reached its full growth 

 it throws out large 

 limbs, branched and 

 crooked. These 

 dense tufts of 



have 

 long, 



dark green leaves at 

 the ends. 



The leaves are from 

 nine to fifteen inches 



LOXGMCAF PINE (PINUS PALUSTRIS) MAI.K AND FEMALE FLOWERS 



A. Branch with mature cones and female flowers at top, jnst l>elow which are 

 young cones of one or two seasons* growth. 



B. Cluster of male or pollen bearing flowers. 



C. Detached female flower. 



D. Detached yoinig seed-I)earing cone scales. 

 E-F. Detached male flowers. 



f>. Detached pollen sacks (anthers). ^ 



H-L Detached very young female flowers showing two ovules at tite base wliich 



later develop into seeds. 



Icng. They grow in clusters of three and are enclosed at 

 their base in a long sheath. They are so flexible that they 

 hang down from the limbs gracefully and plumelike. The 

 leaves are shed by the tree at the end of the second year. 

 Natives of the "pine barrens" where this tree grows 

 sometimes weave the leaves into coarse fabrics for mats. 



The cones appear on 

 the tree when it is 

 twenty or twenty-five 

 years old. They are 

 from six to nine inches 

 long, slightly curved. 

 They have thick, blunt 

 scales with a sharp 

 point or beak at the 

 end. The seeds ripen 

 in late summer but the 

 cones open only in dry 

 weather. If the weath- 

 er is unfavorable they 

 may not open until the 

 middle of autumn. 



The seeds when they 

 fall on favorable 

 ground frequently 

 sprout before winter 

 sets in. The seeds are 

 devoured by squirrels 

 and other seed-eating 

 animals which like 

 them very much. 



The young trees 

 grow slowly. They 

 seldom are over seven 

 inches high when seven 

 years old, and being 

 small and not strong 

 are easily destroyed by 

 forest fires or by cattle 

 or other animals. Or, 

 if the grass and weeds 

 about them are high 

 and strong the young 

 longleaf pine trees 



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