ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART 111. 



2074 



Geography. The yellow pine is found in 

 most pine forests, from New England to 

 Georgia. Towards the north, it does not ex- 

 tend beyond some districts of Connecticut and 

 Massachusetts. It is abundant in the lower 

 part of New Jersey, and still more so on the 

 eastern shore of Maryland, and in the lower 

 parts of Virginia, where it is seen only on the 

 most arid soils. Michaux " also met with it 

 on the right bank of the river Hudson, at a 

 little distance from Albany; at Chambersburg, 

 in Pennsylvania; near Mudlick, in Kentucky; 

 on the Cumberland Mountains, and in the 

 vicinity of Knox- 

 ville, in East Ten- 

 nessee ; at Edge- 

 field Court House, 

 in the upper part 

 of South Caro- 

 lina ; and on the 

 river Oconee, in 

 the upper part of 

 Georgia. In all 

 these places, it 

 is found growing 

 along with other 



trees ; and it enters, in a greater or less proportion, ^/ 1 2075 



into the composition of the indigenous forests, 



according to the nature of the soil. It abounds 



on the poorest lands; but on those of a certain degree of fertility, which is 



indicated by the flourishing appearance of the oaks and walnuts, it is more 



rare, though it still surpasses the surrounding trees in bulk and elevation. 



The yellow pine is also occasionally seen in the lower part of the Carolina*, 



in the Floridas, and probably in Louisiana ; but in these regions it grows only 



on spots consisting of beds of red clay mingled with gravel, which here and 



there pierce the light covering of sand which forms the surface of the country 



to the distance of 120 miles from the sea." 



History. When P. mitis was introduced into England 



is uncertain ; unless we conclude that it was the P. echi- 



nata of Mill. Dictionary, in which case it was in cultiva- 

 tion in 1739. The P. variabilis of Lambert's Pinus is 



unquestionably a totally different plant from the P. 



mitis of Michaux; being without the violet-coloured 



glaucous bloom on the young shoots ; having rigid 



leaves, generally in threes ; and a cone with very strong 



prickles, like that of P. TVda, to which species we 



have referred it. The only plants that we know which 



answer to Michaux's description of P. mitis are at 



Dropmore, where they are readily known by the 



violet-coloured glaucous bloom on the young snoots, 



and by the leaves being almost all in twos ; at the same 



time, it is proper to mention, that the leaves there, 



though soft and slender, are much shorter than those 



in Michaux's figure. The name applied to this species at 



Dropmore is JP. variabilis. There is also a plant at 



Dropmore named P. mitis; but it is wholly with 



three leaves ; and, as far as we can ascertain (the tree 



not having yet borne cones), it belongs cither to P. serotina, or to some 



variety of it. The description given by Miller of P. echinata, as having finely 



elongated leaves, and a cone with very slight slender prickles, agrees perfectly 



2076- 



