Trees of New York State 79 



PINACEAE 



Piuus rigida Mill. 



Pitch Pine 



Habit — A tree occasionally 70-80 feet in height, usually 40-60 feet tall, with 

 a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet. Crown in young trees narrowly pyramidal 

 ;nid open, the horizontal branches stout, rigid, produced in regular, rather 

 distant whorls. In old trees the crown becomes irregular, thin and 

 rounded, consisting of coarse, gnarled branches,, often pendulous at the 

 tip, bearing tufts of yellow-green foliage. 



Leaves — Borne in fa.seicles of 3, needle-shaped, sharply serrulate, stout, 

 blunt-pointed, rigid, yello\\'ish ^-een, 3-5 inches long, divergent from a 

 short sheath, falling during the second or third season. 



Flowers — ^ Appearing in May and early June, monoecious, borne in cones. 

 Staminate cones, clustered at the base of the growth of the season, about 

 % of an inch long, cylindrical, somewhat flexuous, yellow at maturity. 

 Ovulate cones solitary or clustered, lateral near the top of the growth 

 of the season, subglobose, about ^2 of an inch long, borne on short, stout 

 stalks, upright and reddish green at pollination. Scales acuminate, 

 divergent. 



Fruit- — -An ovate-conical or ovoid, prickly, green cone, 1 to 3 inches long, 

 sessile or nearly so, usually at right angles to the branch, attaining full 

 size during early autumn of the second year, opening tardily during the 

 late fall and winter, and remaining on the trees for a decade or more. 

 Cone-scales thickened at the apex, armed with a short, rigid, recurved 

 prickle. Seeds dark browTi or dull black, winged, about Vi of an inch 

 long. 



Winter characters — Branchlets stout, roughened by the persistent, decurrent 

 leaf-bases of the scale-leaves which subtended the fascicles, at first dull 

 orange, later dark grayish brown. Buds y2-% of an inch long, ovate 

 or obovate-oblong, acute, with lanceolate, dark chestnut-brown scales, 

 .scarious and fringed at the margins. Mature bark dark reddish brown, 

 thick, divided by deep furrows into broad, flat-topped ridges. 



Habitat — Occurs on gravelly uplands and sandy plains, rarely in cold 

 swamps. Thrives well on barren sandy sites. Common in the north 

 on glacial soils. 



Range — New Bnuiswick to Lake Ontario, south in the Atlantic States to 

 northern Georgia, and west into West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

 Zones B and C. 



Uses — Of less importance than White or Ked Pine as a source of lumber. 

 Wood light, soft, coarse-grained, brittle, light brown or red, with thick 

 yellowish- white sapwood. Occasionally converted into lund^er. Of some 

 value in reforestation because of its adaptability to poor soils and its 

 fire-resisting cjualities (thick, corky bark). Mature trees generally have 

 a picturesque appearance. 



