118 A NATURE WOOING. 



used. The specific name palustris, meaning, "swamp- 

 growing," which was assigned to it when its habits 

 were but little known, is a misnomer, inasmuch as the 

 tree flourishes best on dry and sandy, rather than 

 damp, soil. On account of the abundance and value 

 of this pine, I have thought best to include herewith 

 the following extracts from Michaux's excellent de- 

 scription of the tree and its products: 



"The long-leaved pine is found almost without in- 

 terruption in the lower part of the Carolinas, Geor- 

 gia and the Floridas, over a tract more than six hun- 

 dred miles long from northeast to southwest, and 

 more than one hundred miles broad back from the 

 sea. The mean stature of this pine is sixty or sev- 

 enty feet, with an uniform diameter of fifteen or 

 eighteen inches for two-thirds of this height. Some 

 stocks, favored by local circumstances, attain much 

 larger dimensions, particularly in east Florida. The 

 bark is somewhat furrowed, and the epidermis de- 

 taches itself in thin transparent sheets. The leaves 

 are about a foot long, of a beautiful brilliant green, 

 united to the number of three in the same sheath, and 

 collected in bunches at the extremity of the branches. 

 They are longer and more numerous on the young 

 stocks, which are sometimes cut by the negroes for 

 brooms. The buds are very large, white, fringed and 

 not resinous. 



"The bloom takes place in April ; the male flowers 

 form masses of divergent violet-colored aments about 



