4 THE PINE FAMILY. 



pale ; reddish brown ; three to four inches long ; oblong or ovate ; sessile, and fre- 

 quently growing in clusters of four, or more ; very heavy. Sca/es : woody, with a 

 stout, hooked spine. 



To watch the development of the young leaves of Pinus pungens when 

 they begin to burst from their embracing bud scales, which finally unite 

 about their bases and serve them as sheaths, is a pretty sight. They are 

 then a tender, sunny green. Another of the tree's points of beauty is its 

 cones which hang in clusters and in succession are persistent for a number 

 of years ; showing, therefore, on the tree the various stages of their growth. 

 These cones are also unusually heavy and project the sharpest and stoutest 

 spines of the South Atlantic species. 



The name table-mountain or prickly pine has been associated with the 

 tree for many years, and the country people, many of whom do not at all 

 distinguish between the different species of pines, at one time thought it to 

 be an exclusive inhabitant of flat-topped mountains. 



P. Virginiana, Jersey pine, is very often mistaken, through the south, 

 for Pinus echinata, and bears without distinction the common name of 

 short-leaved pine. This is rather unfortunate, as in such an event con- 

 fusion must necessarily arise. It were better, it would seem, to separate the 

 two individuals, by associating this tree simply with its more local title, as 

 New Jersey is but little south of the northern limit of its range and it there 

 grows abundantly. The tree presents an irregular growth which, with its 

 short, stubby leaves in bunches of two, aids greatly in its identification. 

 Commercially, it is usually too small to be of much value and it has besides 

 an undesirable amount of sap wood. 



P. rigida, pitch pine, before it became supplanted by the richer pines 

 of the south, was greatly valued for the large amount of pitch contained in 

 its wood and for its free produce of tar and turpentine. It is usually resin- 

 ous, very desirable for fuel, and is frequently made into charcoal. In ap- 

 pearance it is irregular and rough, quite awkward, in fact, as are many of 

 the pitch pines, while its branches are crowded on the trunk. This makes 

 its timber very knotty. It is also coarse. The tree forms a great part of 

 " the pines " of New Jersey and covers considerable tracts of land along 

 the New England coast. From New Brunswick it extends to Virginia and 

 Kentucky, and is found in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. 

 Its leaves, which are from three to six inches long, grow three in a bunch 

 and have short sheaths at their bases. On their surfaces they are almost 

 miperceptibly marked with white dots. The cones grow in clusters of from 

 two to four and their scales at the apices are thickened and tipped with 

 a recurved and stiff prickle. 



P. heterophylla^ Cuban or ElUott's pine, is found in low ground near the 



