BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF LOBLOLLY PINE. 121 



of this piue does uot How freely aiul bardeus so rapidly on exposure tbat it cau not be piofitnbly 

 worked. An experienced operator at tbe place confirmed tbis to be tbe experience everywhere 

 with this kind of pine. The statements regarding tbe use of tbis tree for its resinous product can 

 therefore only be explained by a confusion of names applied to the different pines, and it was 

 most likely tbe Cuban Pine to which the operators referred. (See additional notes on p. 133.) 



In a report lately published by tbe State geologist of North Carolina tbe remark is made : " It 

 is said that the crude turpentine of the Loblolly Pine has so much water in it that it yields only 

 a poor spirits of turpentine."' This, to be sure, is a misconception; but tiie statement confirms 

 the fact tbat tbis species is not tapped for its resin, which had also been observed by the writer a 

 shoit time previously in the Loblolly Pine forests of North Carolina as well as South Carolina and 

 Georgia. 



From an extensive series of analyses of tbe resin of fresh specimens of both Longleaf and Loblolly 

 Pine collected in Georgia and South Carolina, it appears that the wood of Loblolly contains but 

 little less resin than that of Longleaf; that the distribution of resin in the log is practically the 

 same, and, what seems most remarkable, tbat the composition of the resin, as fiir as tbe relation 

 of spirits of turpentine and rosin is concerned, is nearly tbe same (being quite variable in both), so 

 tbat the absence office "bleeding" or abundant resin exudation can not be due to a lack of liquid 

 oil, but must be caused by other physiological peculiarities. 



NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION. 



The Loblolly and half a dozen other species, mostly Pacific and INIexican,- form a natural group 

 of timber trees included in Engelmann's Entada', which might fitly be designated as the group 

 "torch pines," and can be characterized as embracing trees, mostly of larger size, with more or 

 less resinous, coarse-grained wood, long leaves by threes in a fascicle, and with lateral cones i)ro- 

 vided with thick, woody scales bearing a stout, sharp i)rickle. The distinctive characters of this 

 species have been early recognized by Plukenet, one of the earliest writers on American plants ' 

 and Linmeus described the tree under the name of Piiius twda,* which was adopted subsequently 

 by all botanists. The name given to this piue by Linnaeus in 1753 has never been changed. In 

 1789 Alton established a variety, F. tcvda a tenuifoUa (Hort. Kew., Ill, 3G8), which, however, has 

 not received lecognition. 



BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION AND MORPIIOLOCY. 



Leaves three in the close, elonj^ated sheath, 6 to 9 inches long, sleuiler, stifi", rigidly pointeil, channeled, and 

 strongly keeled on the upper side, of a pale green color; cones nearly sessile, single, in twos or threes, roundish-ovate 

 or ovate oblong, about .3 inches long, with the scales hard and woody, the pyramidal apophysis with a strong, 

 recurved prickle; seeds small, their wing an inch or over long. 



This species is easily distinguished from its most frequent associates — the Longleaf and Short- 

 leaf pines — by its slightly glaucous foliage at all seasons; by its more slender and almost smooth 

 terminal buds, from the former; and from the latter by the more robust shoots and buds; and 

 from both the species named, and also from the Cuban Pine, by its characteristic cones. 



ROOT, STEM, AXr> BRANXH SYSTEM. 



The stout taproot of this pine is assisted by powerful laterals wliich divide into numerous 

 branches and descend into the soil, usually at a short distance from the trunk ; but where a hard, 

 compact subsoil is encountered tliey are often seen to run for a greater or less distance near the 

 surface. In the localities most favorable to its growtli, the massive trunk of the Loblolly Pine is in 

 its dimensions not surpassed by any other pine of tbe Atlantic forest region. In such cases the 

 tree attains a height of 120 to 150 feet and over, with a diameter of from 1 to 5 feet breast high, 

 and with the trunk clear of limbs for a length of from GO to 80 feet. 



' The Forests, F'orest Lands, and Forest Products of Eastern North Carolina, by W. W. Ashe. Bulletin 5 of the 

 Geological Survey of North Carolina, 189.5. 



-Engelniann: Revision of the Genus Pinus. Transactions of the Academy of .Sciences, 8t. Louis, Vol. IV, p. 

 177. 1886. 



^Plukenet: Almagestum botanicnm. London. 1696. ^ 



^Lmnaus: Species Plantarum, p. 1000. 1753. 



