22 TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



markable for the very broad and strong spines with 

 bent tips. Thomas Meehan reports that trees of this 

 pine grow well from old cones and that even clean 

 seeds survive for as much as six years (Bot. Gaz. 

 5 :T5. 1880). A small or medium sized tree of irreg- 

 ular growth, found only in poor soil in the Blue Ridge 

 mountains and on ridges east of them, as on Pilot 

 Mountain. 



5. Pinus rigida Mill. Black Pine, Pitch Pine, Moun- 



tain Pine. 



Leaves usually in threes, rarely in fours, 3-4% 

 inches long ; cones resembling those of the Short-leaf 

 Pine but larger, about 2-2% inches long. A rather 

 small tree that is common in the mountains, extend- 

 ing into the adjacent Piedmont, as far east as Lin- 

 coln and Yadkin Counties; usually knotty and not 

 of much commercial importance. 



6. Pinus serotina Michx. Pond Pine. 



A good sized tree with exactly the appearance of 

 P. Taeda, except for the cones which are broadly top- 

 shaped, solid, about 2-2% inches long and of the 

 same width when open. They remain closed usually 

 for several years and sometimes for as much as 12 

 years, and in these closed cones the seeds remain 

 capable of germination. (See Coker, Jour. Elisha 

 Mitchell Soc. 26:43. 1910). Common in swamps 

 of the coastal plain and occasional in the eastern part 

 of the middle district to the eastern part of Alamance 

 County. It is not known to occur in Orange County. 



