The Pines 



"The old trees are as tellingly varied and picturesque as 

 oaks. No two are alike, and we are tempted to stop and admire 

 every one we come to as it stands silent in the calm, balsam- 

 scented sunshine or waving in accord with enthusiastic storms. 

 No traveller, whether he be a tree lover or not, will ever forget 

 his first walk in a sugar-pine forest," — John Muir. 



Rocky Mountain "White Pine. — [P. flexilis, James.) — 

 A broad, stout-trunked tree, 40 to 75 feet high, with ascending 

 branches in a diffuse head. Bark very dark, furrowed and 

 broken into square plates; younger stems smooth, pale grey or 

 white. Wood light, soft, close grained, yellow to red. Buds 

 scaly, pointed, clustered at branch tips. Leaves in fives, thick, 

 rigid, li to 3 inches long, dark green, sheathed and tufted on 

 end of branches; shed during fifth or sixth years. Flowers like P. 

 Strobus, but rose coloured. Fruit annual, cones 3 to 10 inches 

 long, purple; scales rounded and abruptly beaked at apex; seeds 

 with narrow wings all around; ripe in September. Preferred 

 habitat, mountain slopes, at altitude of 7,000 to 12,000 feet. 

 Distribution, Rocky Mountains, Alberta (British Columbia), Mon- 

 tana to Mexico and California. Uses: Important timber tree of 

 semi-arid regions. Used in construction as P. Strobus is. 



It is a fortunate region that has its own white or soft pine for 

 all sorts of construction. This " limber pine " is notable because 

 it thrives where other pines fail. It grows on the sides of the 

 desert ranges of mountains in Nevada and Arizona. It is the 

 chief dependence of builders on the eastern slopes of the Rockies 

 in Montana. Lacking this pine, the lumber problem in these 

 regions would be serious. It is true that trees growing in scat- 

 tered groups and open forests as these do produce knotty timber; 

 but the important fact is that P. flexilis does grow in these re- 

 gions, and the trees are appreciated, knots and all. 



The best specimens grow in New Mexico and Arizona — 

 sturdy trees, as broad as they are high, with trunks 5 feet 

 through, and limbs of exceeding length, flexibility and tough- 

 ness. From these characters the tree takes its specific name and 

 the common name given above. 



The Rocky Mountain white pine grows where the wind 

 tests the fibre of its long arms, which reach out and up as if 

 eager to meet the challenge and prove themselves. The foliage 

 is thick and beautiful, even where the tree crouches a prostrate 



29 



