ILLINOIS TREES: SELECTION, PLANTING, AND CARE 95 



bearing cones are globular to oval and are in clusters of two to 

 four on the side of the shoot. With age they become yellow, ob- 

 long to conical, curved, and 1' ^-2 inches long. They cling to the 

 tree for a decade or so and do not shed their winged seeds for 

 several years. The dark brown bark on old trees is tinted red 

 and is divided irregularly into narrow, rounded, scaly ridges. 

 Jack pine is used only occasionally in ornamental plantings and 

 mainly for its picturesque appearance. Also, it may be attacked 

 by such insects as sawfly, white pine weevil, and Nantucket pine 

 moth. 



Short-leaf pine is a tall, straight, slender-trunked tree which 

 may grow to a height of 80-100 feet. It thrives in well-drained, 

 gravelly or sandy soils. The branches form a large oval to round 

 crown. The dark, blue-green, slender, soft, flexible, finely- 

 toothed needles are abruptly pointed, 3-5 inches long, and in bun- 

 dles of two or three. The crowded clusters of yellowish-purple, 

 pollen-bearing cones are about -^t. inch long. The pale rose, seed- 

 bearing cones are produced on short, stout stalks in pairs or in 

 groups of three or four, near the end of the current season's 

 growth. The chestnut-brown, mature cones, 11/2-3 inches long, 

 remain attached to the branches for several years. The thick, 

 cinnamon-red bark is broken into irregularly angular, scaly 

 plates by a network of deep fissures. Short-leaf pine is a rela- 

 tively slow-growing tree, is difficult to establish, and has only 

 limited use in ornamental plantings. 



Red or Norway pine (Fig. 87) is a tall, pyramidal tree, with 

 stout branches which are sometimes pendulous, that grows to a 

 height of 50-75 feet. It is adapted to various soil conditions and 

 grows better than white pine on light, sandy loam soil. It thrives 

 under low to medium rainfall. The soft, flexible, dark green 

 needles (Fig. 87 insets) are 5-7 inches long, in bundles of two, 

 and generally at the ends of the branches. The dense spikes of 

 pollen-bearing cones are dark purple. The seed-bearing cones 

 require two years to mature. They are small, scarlet, and upright 

 during the first year, become pendant the second year, and are 

 li/o-21/t inches long when mature. Each scale bears two ter- 

 minally winged seeds. The reddish-brown bark is broken into 

 scaly plates by a network of shallow fissures. Red pine is used 

 sparingly in ornamental plantings. However, it may be used for 

 bold effects where few other pines grow. It is susceptible to 

 Dothistroma needle blight, a fungus disease. 



Mountain pine, sometimes called Swiss mountain pine, is usu- 



