346 



NEW ENGLAND TREES IN AVINTER. 



PITCH PINE 

 Hard Pine, Yellow Pine. 



Pinus rigida Mill. 



H VBIT Generallv a low tree 30-.'iO ft. in heiglit witli a trunk 



diameter of 1-2 ft. occasionally 70-SO ft. in height -vvith trunk diameter 

 of "-i ft ■ trunk more or less tapering, branches thick, gnarled, often 

 drooping'forming an open pyramidal or oblong head: foliage in coarse 

 ri^id yellowish-green tufts. Dead branches and old persistent cones 

 are frei-iuent and the tree has generally a decidedly scraggly appearance. 



n VRK On young trunks and branches rough, broken Into reddish 



brown scales "with age becoming deeply furrowed into broad flat- 

 topped ridges separating on the surface into rather loose dark reddlsh- 

 brc.wn scales Clusters of leayes and short branches are not infre- 

 quently formed directly from the old trunk (see in photograph above 

 the tape measure.) 



TAVIGS Stout, light brown, not downy, roughened especially after the 



fall of the leaves by the decurrent bases of scales subtending the leaf- 

 clusters. 



I.EAAKS In clusters of 3, with persistent sheaths, yellowish- 

 green, 2-5 inches long, stout, stiif. spreading, witli pointed tips. 

 MICROSCOPIC SECTION — 3-sided, showing 2 flbro-vascular bundles, 

 resin-ducts located intermediate between bundles and periphery, 

 strengthening cells beneath the epidermis in patches several layers 

 thick, gener'ally surrounding the resin-ducts and at one side of 

 the vascular bundles, stomata on all three sides. 



lllDS — Cylindrical to ovate, pointed, resin-coated, scales reddish- 

 brL'wn. 



FRUIT — Cones lio-4 inches long, without stalks, ovate becoming more 

 or less splierii'al wlien t..pened, bttrne laterally, sin.gly t.ir in clusters 

 at abi>ut a riglit angle to tlie twig, often remaining on the branches 

 for ten or a diizen years and frequently found on trees only a few 

 feet high, SCALES — thickened at tip and with a stiff recurved prickle. 



fO>rPARISO.\S — The Pitch Pine is the only native Pine in New 

 England that lias three needles in a cluster. Its ragged appearance with 

 frequent dead branches, persistent <;ones. and >"ellowish-green stiff 

 ftiliage renders it easily distinguished from the White and Red Pines 

 without examination of the needles. 



DISTRIBUTIOX — ^lost common in dry, sterile soils, occasional in 

 swamps. New Brunswick to Lake Ontario: south to "\'irginia and along 

 the mountains to northern Georgia: west to western New York, Ohio, 

 Kentucky, and Tennessee. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Maine — mostly in the southwestern section near 

 the seacoast; as far north as Chesterville. Franklin county: scarcely 

 more than a shrub near its northern limits: New Hampshire — most 

 common along the ilerrimac yalley to the White Mountains and up 

 the Connecticut valley to the mouth of the Passumpsic. reaching an 

 altitude of 1.000 feet above the sea level: Vermont — common in the 

 northern Champlain valley, less frequent in the Connecticut valley: 

 common in the other New England states, often forming large tracts 

 of woodland, sometimes exclusively occupying e.xtensive areas, 



IN CONNECTICUT — Rare or local in Litchfield county, frequent else- 

 where. 



■\VOOD — Light, soft, not strong, brittle, coarse-grained, very durable, 

 light brown or red. with thick yellow or often white sapwood: largely 

 used for fuel and in the manufacture of charcoal; occasionally sawed 

 into lumber. 



