CHAPTER V: THE PINES 



Family Conifers 



Genus PINUS, Duham. 



Leaves evergreen, of two forms: primary, short, broad at 

 base, scattered; secondary, needle-like, in sheathed bundles. 

 Flowers monoecious, naked; staminate, clustered; pistillate, 

 lateral or subterminal, with spirally arranged scales; ovules, 2 on 

 each scale. Fruit, a woody cone, maturing in 2 or 3 years. 



" What the apple is among the fruits, what the oak is among 

 broad-leaved trees of the temperate zone, the pines are among 

 the conifers, excelling all other genera in this most important 

 family in number of species, in fields of distribution in extent of 

 area occupied, in usefulness and importance to the human race." 



— B. E. Fernow. 



Six hundred species and varieties have been described and 

 named in the genus Pinus. They are distributed in vast forests 

 over the northern half of the globe, reaching into the tropics by 

 following mountain chains. The East and West Indian Islands 

 have each their own pines. Out of the hundreds of named kinds 

 about eighty distinct species are now recognised. Half of this 

 number are found in North America. Forests of pine still cover 

 mountain slopes in the western and northern parts of the conti- 

 nent. Lumbering has been going on for a century in the Eastern 

 States; more recently the Great Lakes region and the pine forests 

 of the Southern States have been exploited to supply the demand 

 for pine. 



The foremost lumber trees in this country, pines have still 

 other important uses. They offer a great variety of trees for pro- 

 tective and ornamental planting. Windbreaks from the seashore 

 to the semi-arid prairie, from the low seaboard plain to the 

 mountain's crests, may all be of pine. Arid soil or rich, cold or 

 warm climate, swamp and desert sand — all offer congenial con- 

 ditions for some native pine. In the parks of cities, in private 



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