THE PINE. 269 



Gray or Northern The gray pine, sometimes called 

 Scrub Pine. ]S'orthern scrub pine, is the least 



Finns Banhsiana. ■ . , • /. ,i . -r 



mterestmg oi the species. Its needle 

 is so short that in general effect the tree reminds one 

 of some scraggy coarse spruce. It is often a mere 

 shrub, and very rarely attains a height of 30 feet. 



Gray or Northern Scrub Pine. 



The needles are the shortest in the pine family ; 

 they are scarcely over an inch long, flat, and about a 

 sixteenth of an inch wide. They usually grovs' in 

 pairs, and have an even bright yellow-green color, 

 which varies but a trifle in different specimens. 

 Notice also that the two needles do not hold closely 

 together, as in the case of the white pine, but diverge 

 at a wide angle. The newer whitish buff cones, about 

 two inches long (sometimes less), are often curved at 

 the end, and point in the same direction as the branch. 

 The old, dark-brown cones have reflex scales with no 

 prickles. The young twigs are reddish. This pine is 



