77 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB 

 Wednesday, March 25, 1903 



The meeting was held at the New York Botanical Garden ; 

 Dr. MacDougal in the chair ; thirteen persons present. 



The first paper of the announced program was by Mr. Harper, 

 who discussed " Some Pines of the southeastern United States." 

 In July, 1902, Mr. Harper spent a day at Ocilla, Georgia, where 

 Dr. C. H. Herty of the Bureau of Forestry is carrying on investi- 

 gations relating to the turpentine industry. An effort to deter- 

 mine the several forms of turpentine pines recognized by those 

 engaged in this work led Mr. Harper to attempt a somewhat 

 critical study of the diagnostic characters and distribution of the 

 southern pines. 



The best known of the turpentine trees is the long-leaf pine, 

 Pinus palustris Miller {P. australis Michx.). This ranges from 

 Virginia to Florida and Texas. In Georgia it is found on nearly 

 every square mile of the coastal plain and extends some distance 

 into the metamorphic region. It occurs on dry sandy soil, never 

 being found in swamps, in spite of its specific name. It is readily 

 distinguished by its long leaves and large cones. 



The slash pine, another species used by the turpentine workers, 

 is certainly the Pinus Elliotti Engelm., but probably not P. Cubensis 

 Griseb. or P. heterophylla (Ell.) Sudw., two older names which 

 have been associated with it. The species ranges from South 

 Carolina to Mississippi, mostly near the coast, but extending 125 

 miles inland in Georgia. In contrast with Pinus palustris, the 

 typical form is always found in moist situations, commonly in 

 swamps, with Taxodium. It has much the same habit as P. 

 palustris, but is distinguished by its shorter leaves, smaller, un- 

 armed cones, and especially by its bark. The bark is difficult to 

 describe but is very characteristic and when once known affords 

 the best means of distinguishing the tree at a glance, as may 

 often be done from a car window. 



The so-called old-field slash pine occurs as second growth on 

 dry soils in the coastal plain. It has not the characteristic form 



