(90 



straight from the trunk, or even droop a little at their tips 

 when old. As in all pines the leaves are very slender and 

 sharp-pointed, whence the name "pine-needles." Unlike all 

 the other Hudson Valley pines this species has five of these 

 needles in a cluster; there is a little tubular sheath enclosing 

 the bases of the leaves when young. In the white pine the 

 leaves are from 3 to 5 inches long and pale green or bluish- 

 green in color. 



The flowers, which appear in May or June, and the sub- 

 sequent seeds, are found at the bases of scales, the pistillate 

 of which collectively form the well known "pine-cone." 

 During the second year the scales of the cone loosen and 

 release the winged seeds. 



The white pine prefers sandy slopes and is found in all 

 the counties bordering the Hudson Valley; rare and local 

 on Staten Island, but abundant northward. Its timber is 

 very valuable and few forests of it remain uncut. (Plate 



Pitch Pine PlNUS rigeda 



The pitch pine, a round-topped but often irregularly 

 shaped evergreen, attains a height of 50 or 60 feet. The 

 bark is coarse, irregularly and deeply fissured when old, and 

 red-brown in color. The branches are stiff and stand out 

 straight from the trunk, in age becoming twisted and ir- 

 regular. 



The bright green leaves are arranged in clusters of three, 

 enclosed at the base by a sheath, and persistent for 2 or 3 

 years. They are stout, sharply but closely toothed and from 

 iY-2 to 5 inches long. 



The flowers come out in spring, the pistillate or "cones" 

 being almost without stalks and arranged in clusters along 

 the sides of the branches. They are scarcely more than 2^2 

 inches long and globose or ovoid in outline. The scales of 

 the cone, which are armed with strongly recurved prickles, 

 spread to release the seed during the second season. 



The wood of the pitch pine is used for a variety of pur- 



