POND PINE (PiMMs serotina Michx.) 



THE pond pine, also known as pocosin pine, bay 

 pine or black-bark pine, is found in small swamps 

 and on flat, undrained, poor, sandy, or low, peaty 

 soils of the Coastal Plain. It averages 40 to 70 feet 

 in height and 1 to 2 feet in diameter. The trunk 

 is often slightly crooked and somewhat rough with 

 knots or bulges. The tree somewhat resembles lob- 



POND PINE 



One-haU natural size. 



From Sargent's "Manual of the Trees of North America," 



by permission of Houghton-Mifflin Company. 



lobby pine, but can be distinguished most easily by 

 the broader and shorter cones, and its location gen- 

 erally on wet or very sour lands. 



The leaves occur in clusters of 3, or occasionally 

 4, and range in length from 5 to 8 inches. They 

 persist on the branches for 3 to 4 years. The cones, 

 or burrs, when open are noticeably globular in out- 

 line, somewhat flattened, 2 to 2i^ inches long. Like 

 aU pines, they require two seasons for ripening, but 

 remain closed for 1 to 2 years afterward, and per- 

 sist on the branches for several years. 



The bark is dark red-brown and irregularly di- 

 vided by shallow furrows. 



The wood is resinous, heavy, often coarse-grained, 

 orange-colored, with pale yellowish, wide sapwood. 

 It is sawed and sold without discrimination along 

 with lumber of other southern pines. In the earlier 

 days of lumbering this pine was not much used for 

 lumber. It is one of the few species of pine which, 

 following cutting or killing-back by fire, sprouts 

 from the stumps of young vigorous saplings. 



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