PINE FAMILY 



northern states it grows abundantly on dry gravelly slopes 

 and rocky ridges. 



A distinctive characteristic of the tree is the variation in the 

 form of its leaves. Variation of form occurs among the leaves 

 of the Sassafras and the Mulberry ; the Pitch Pine sometimes 

 bears two forms ; the Red Cedar does so habitually. These 

 are the awl-shaped and the scale-shaped. There seems to be 

 no law that determines their production except that the awl- 

 shaped always appear upon the young plants, but on mature 

 plants the different forms occur upon the same branchlet. 

 The awl-shaped are rigid, long-pointed, channelled and white 

 glaucous above, yellow green and convex below. They vary 

 in length from one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch. The 

 scale-shaped are minute, closely appressed, acute or obtuse, 

 and usually bear a glandular disk on the back. They are op- 

 posite but are so closely ranked that they make the leafy 

 twig appear quadrangular. 



The wood of the Red Cedar is so valuable and has been 

 used so lavishly that it has become extremely expensive. 

 The present commercial supply is obtained chiefly from the 

 swamps near the western coast of Florida. 



Few insects attack the Junipers, but they are the hosts of 

 numbers of very interesting fungi. These fungi belong to 

 the Rust family and are popularly known as Cedar Apples. 

 The common Cedar Apple, Gymnosporangium macropus, es- 

 pecially attacks the Red Cedar and forms tufts of bright yel- 

 low, jelly-like masses, from orifices in which long yellow 

 spurs protrude. These cling to the smaller twigs and are 

 frequently believed to be the flowers of the tree, or else an 

 astonishing kind of fruit. They will appear in a single night 

 during the rainy season ; and a Red Cedar covered with these 

 bright yellow masses of waving tongues is a remarkable 

 sight. When the weather becomes dry these gelatinous 

 masses contract and they are then seen to arise from the 

 changed tissue of very young twigs. 



498 



