256 CONIFERS. 



ABIETINE^l. 



Character of the Sub-Order. — Ovules 2, inverted, in the axil of a scale or 

 bract ; bracts imbricated, in fruit forming a woody cone. 



PINUS.— Pine. 



Character of the Genus. — Sterile catkins clustered about the base of the 

 young current-year shoots ; the fertile at the apex, and maturing the fol- 

 lowing year. Leaves 2 to 5 in a cluster, sheathed at the base by thin, chaff- 

 like persistent scales. 



Trees of a gregarious habit, often forming large forests ; found only 

 in the Northern hemisphere. 



Pin us austral is Michaux (P. iialustris Linne.) — Long-leaved or Yellow 

 Pine. 



Description. — Cones 6 to 10 inches long, cylindrical or conical-oblong, 

 the thick scales armed with a short recurved spine. Leaves in clusters of 3, 

 10 to 15 inches long, with long sheaths, crowded at the summit of thick 

 and very scaly branches. A tree 60 to 80 feet high, with thin-scaled bark 

 and very resinous wood, dividing near the summit into a number of spread- 

 ing branches. 



Habitat. — From Southern Virginia southward, growing in sandy soil, 

 and often forming forests many miles in extent. 



Pin us Taeda Linne. — Loblolly or Old-field Pine. 



Description. — Cones 3 to 5 inches long, elongated-oblong, tapering, the 

 scales tipped with a stout incurved spine. Leaves in clusters of 2 or 3, 6 to 

 10 inches long, with long sheaths. A tree 50 to 100 feet high, with very 

 thick, furrowed bark, and sparingly resinous wood ; when growing in fields 

 it is low, with spreading branches. 



Habitat. — In light soil, from Delaware southward ; often establishing 

 itself in fields exhausted by cultivation, hence called old-field pine. 



The above-described species may be taken as fairly representing the 

 medicinal trees of the genus, though many others possess similar or identi- 

 cal properties. Recognizing this fact, and that the medicinal derivatives 

 of pine are procured from a variety of species, the United States Pharma- 

 copoeia mentions by name only the most important, Pinus australis, but 

 adds, "other species of pinus." 



Parts Used. — The medicinal virtues of pine reside in its oleo-resin. 

 This exudes in greater or less quantity from all species when wounded, 

 most abundantly, however, from P. australis, and is official under the 

 name terebinthina — turpentine. From it are procured oil of turpentine 

 and resin, while from the wood itself tar is obtained by the process of de- 

 structive distillation. 



Constituents. — Turpentine, as it exudes from the tree, is a yellowish, 



