LIFE HISTORY OF SHORTLEAF PINE. 5 



Altogether 10 different species share in varying degree the range of 

 shortleaf. Pond and slash pines and spruce pine merely overlap 

 along the southern margin, but pitch and scrub pines share as much 

 as one-third to one-half the botanical range. In parts of Virginia 

 and North Carolina, scrub pine occurs in varying proportion in the 

 mixed shortleaf conifer stands, 1 particularly in old fields, and it 

 succeeds in getting a strong foothold in the poorer soils, dry pastures, 

 and waste places. On the lower or warmer side, shortleaf throughout 

 practically its entire range associates extensively with loblolly pine. 

 In this association the two maintain, to a large degree, the relation 

 of complementary species, loblolly holding the heavier, moist soils 

 and shortleaf the drier and lighter soils. Valuable and extensive 

 commercial forests of this character occur in Georgia, Alabama, 

 Mississippi, Texas, and especially heavy stands in Arkansas and 

 Louisiana. Both of these pines to some extent, and particularly 

 loblolly, are replacing the slower-growing longleaf on all situations, 

 except the driest and most sandy soils, throughout their region of 

 contact. 2 In the longleaf region shortleaf occurs generally in groups 

 or small stands on favorable situations, but in large areas west of the 

 Mississippi the two occupy practically the same soil type, and in 

 mixture they make up heavy stands of maximum development. 



HARDWOODS. 



A large number of broadleaf species are associated with shortleaf 

 through its extended range. Oaks and hickories, however, are so 

 constant in their association as to be characteristic in many of the 

 mixed stands. Over the Northern Atlantic States chestnut oak, 

 yellow oak, and red oak are the most typical associates. From 

 Virginia southward throughout the Piedmont country, lying between 

 the coastal plain and the lower slopes of the mountains up to 2,500 

 feet, shortleaf still maintains its position generally as the dominant 

 tree in mixture with the upland oaks and hickories. The primary 

 associated species are yellow and Spanish oaks, big-bud and bitternut 

 hickories, and, on the thin ridges, post oak and black-jack oak. The 

 amount of shortleaf in the mixture varies widely, but throughout the 

 eastern range represents usually from 35 to 60 per cent of the stand. 

 In the hilly and mountainous parts of Arkansas, the mixed shortleaf 

 and loblolly type gives way at elevations above about 400 feet to 

 heavy stands of nearly pure shortleaf up to about 1,000 feet, whence 



1 Following are botanical and common names of pines mentioned: 



Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda Linn.). 

 Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.). 

 Pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.). 

 Pond pine (Pinus serotina Michx.). 

 Table Mountain pine (Pinus pungens Michx.). 

 2 Ashe, W. W. Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters. Vol. V, No. 1, p, 



Norway pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.). 

 Scrub pine (Pinus virginiana Mill.). 

 Slash pine (Pinus caribaea Morel.). 

 White pine (Pinus strobus Linn.). 



