48 



The Pines 



globose-ovoid when open, 8 to 12 cm. long, oblique, light browTi and shining, 

 opening when ripe and gradually dropping the seed or remaining closed for several 

 years, usually persisting on the branches for from fifteen to twenty-five years. 

 The scales are thin and woody, their exposed portion much thickened, conspicu- 

 ously ridged, thick-knobbed and armed with a stout spine, which is upcurved 

 above and recun^ed below the middle of the cone; they are dark purpUsh or red- 

 dish on the unexposed surfaces. The seeds are nearly triangular, 6 to 7 mm. 

 long, rounded on the sides, Ught brown and roughened, their wing thin, fragile, 

 pale and shining, often streaked with red, about 2 cm. long, broadest below the 

 middle, obhque and gradually rounded at the apex. 



The wood is soft, weak, and brittle, very coarse-grained, resin bands con- 

 spicuous and passages large; its specific gravity is about 0.44. It is extensively 

 used for fuel and also made into charcoal. 



36. PRICKLE CONE PINE Pinus muricata D. Don 



A tree of coastal Cahfomia occurring in isolated stations from Mendocino 

 county southward into Lower Cahfomia, reaching its greatest development of 

 27 meters tall and a trunk diameter of 9 dm. 



f 



fj.]4^ //'/^^ sciks, 



Fig. 38. Prickle-Cone Pine. 



The branches are stout, horizontal, forming a regular conic tree when young; 

 older trees are dense and round-topped. The bark is up to 1.5 dm. thick, deeply 

 furrowed into long elongated, rounded ridges which are roughened by close, dark 



