256 CONIFEU^. 



ABIETINE^. 



Character of the Svh-Ord(rr. — Ovules 2, inverted, in the axil of a scale or 

 bract ; bracts imbricated, in fruit forming a woody cone. 



PINUS.— Pine. 



Character of the Genus. — Steiile catkins clustered about the base of the 

 young current-year shoots ; the fertile at the apex, and maturing the fol- 

 lowing year. Leaves 2 to 5 in a cluster, sheathed at the base by thin, chaff- 

 like persistent scales. 



Trees of a gregarious habit, often forming largo forests ; found only 

 in the Northern hemisphere. 



Pin US austral is Michaux {P. jmlutitris Linno.) — Lotuj-leaved or Yellmo 

 Pine. 



Description, — Cones 6 to 10 inches long, cylindrical or conical-oblong, 

 the thick scales armed Avith a short recurved sjiiue. Leaves in clusters of 3, 

 10 to 15 inches long, with long sheaths, crowded at the summit of thick 

 and very scaly braTicLes. A tree 60 to 80 feet high, with thin-scaled l)ark 

 and very i-esinous wood, dividing near the summit into a number of spread- 

 ing branches. 



Habitat. — From Southern Virginia soutliAvard, growing in sandy soil, 

 and often forming forests many miles in exten*^^. 



Pin US Tseda Linne. — LohloUij or Old-field Pine. 



Description. — Cones 3 to 5 inches long, elongated-oblong, tapering, the 

 scales tipped with a stout incurved spine. Leaves in clusters of 2 or 3, G to 

 10 inclips long, with long sheaths. A tree oO to 100 feet high, with very 

 thick, furrowed b.irk, and sparingly resinous wood ; when growing in fields 

 it is low, with spreading branches. 



Habitat. — In light soil, from Delaware southward ; often establishing 

 itself in fields exhaust jd by cultivation, hence called old-field pine. 



The above-described species may be taken as fairly representing the 

 medicinal trees of the genus, though many others possess similar or identi- 

 cal properties. Recognizing this fact, and that the medicinal derivatives 

 of pine are procured from a variety of species, the United States Pharma- 

 copoeia mentions by name only the most important, Pinus australis, but 

 adds, "other si^ecies of pinus." 



Parts Used. — The medicinal virtues of pine reside in its oleo-resin. 

 Tliis exudes in greater or less quantity from all species when wounded, 

 most abundantly, however, from P. australis, and is official under the 

 name terebinthina—turpentine. From it are procured oil of tui-pentine 

 and resin, while from the wood itself tar is obtained by the process of de- 

 structive distillation. 



Constituents. — Turpentine, as it exudes from the tree, is a yellowish, 



