FEBRUARY. , 91 



Strict propriety be called the rough pine, for no other tree in 

 the forest exceeds it in roughness, which is manifest in its 

 minutest branches. This tree commonly excites but little 

 interest in the spectator, but some noble forests are formed of 

 it almost exclusively. Such are many of the tracts called 

 the ''pine barrens" at the South; and such are the "Dark 

 Plains" near Concord, N. H.. consisting of a wide sandy re- 

 gion on the borders of the Merrimac. Only a small portion 

 of the primitive growth is now remaining ; but, from the 

 present timber, of twenty and thirty years' growth, some idea 

 may be formed of its original grandeur. Though the rough- 

 ness of this tree renders it unsightly in a forest, single trees 

 of perfect shape are often seen on the borders of a wood, 

 that, in most points of beauty, will bear comparison with the 

 white'"pine. 



The pitch pine does not give out its branches horizontally. 

 They run up at rather a wide angle with the stem, forming a 

 head that approaches more nearly to the globular shape than 

 that of any other species of the coniferous tribe. The. 

 branches are likewise inclined to assume tortuous shapes, 

 and, being large in proportion to the trunk, they give the tree 

 a remarkable appearance of sturdiness and strength. There 

 is no other tree that presents fewer straight lines in its com- 

 position, or so seldom a regular curve in its outlines. The 

 former are rarely seen without some contortion, or the latter 

 without more or less interruption. Hence, unlike the gener- 

 ality of coniferous trees, having but little symmetry in its 

 proportions, it may be mutilated to a considerable extent, 

 without losing its characteristic properties of beauty. 



In young trees of this species, the whorls of triple branch- 

 es may be distinctly perceived; but, as the tree increases in 

 size, so many of these branches become abortive, that all 

 regularity of staging in their arrangement is destroyed. The 

 same effects may be observed in the maple, which at first has 

 opposite branches. One of these invariably ceases to grow 

 after the first year, and is finally obliterated ; thus obviating 

 that prim regularity which the tree would otherwise exhibit. 

 As the principal branches of the pitch pine are very numer- 



