i6 



The Pines 



at the base, dark reddish brown and shghtly mottled ; endosperm sweetish and resi- 

 nous; wing thin, narrow, and pale brown, adhering to the cone-scale when the 

 seed falls out; cotyledons about 8. 



The wood is soft, close-grained, yellow or pale brown; its specific gravity is 

 about 0.57. 



The seed, Hke that of other nut pines, is of considerable value as food to the 

 Indians and Mexicans. This tree is sometimes planted for ornament in Cahfomia. 



9. ONE-LEAVED NUT PINE Pinus monophylla Torrey and Fremont 



An inhabitant of dn', gravelly soils in the mountains of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, 

 southern Cahfomia and adjacent Lower California, at elevations of 1500 to 2300 

 meters, seldom attaining its maximum height of 15 meters, with a trunk diameter 

 of 3 dm., its usual height being only about 7 m. 



The trunk is very short, often divided near the ground into several strong spread- 

 ing branches; these are 

 short and stout, forming 

 a compact conic head, 

 very old trees often hav- 

 ing pendulous branches 

 and are more round 

 topped or irregular. The 

 bark is about 18 mm. 

 thick, deeply and irregu- 

 larly fissured into nar- 

 row flattish confluent 

 ridges with close dark 

 reddish brown scales. 

 The twigs arc stout, 

 light orange, finally be- 

 coming dark brown. 

 The branch-buds are 

 ovoid, 6 mm. long, blunt, their scales light brown. The leaves are sohtary and 

 round, rarely 2 or 3 in a sheathless fascicle, triangular, pale green and glaucous, 

 round and stout, about 4 cm. long, recurved at the apex, spincscent with a long 

 hard tip, marked with 18 to 20 rows of stomata and containing 2 or 3 resin-ducts 

 and one fibro vascular bundle, they are rather scattered along the twigs and per- 

 sist for four to six years. The flowers appear in May, the staminate densely 

 clustered near the apex of the twigs, oval or oblong, about 6 mm. long; anthers 

 dark red. The pistillate flowers are lateral, oval, about 6 mm. long, short, stout- 

 stalked, their scales thick, rounded, and tipped with a small point. The cones 

 mature the second autumn, when they are broadly oval, 4 to 6.5 cm. long and 

 almost as thick, light reddish brown and shining; the scales are concave, thick 



One-leaved Nut Pine. 



