178 



TREES OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES 



merous, rigid, sharply mucronate, from a short, dark, overlapping 

 sheath; 2 to a sheath. Cones from 2 to 2^ in. long, ovate, smooth, 

 clustered. Scales furnished with a point which is soon shed. A 

 small cultivated tree, 30 to 40 ft. high, from the Pacific coast of the 

 United States. As it has an irregular shape, and crooked branches, 

 it is not often planted. 



21. Plnus Banksiana, Lambert. 

 (GRAY OR NORTHERN SCRUB PINE.) 

 Leaves in twos, short, 1 in. long, ob- 

 lique, divergent from a close sheath. 

 Cones lateral, conical, oblong, usually 

 curved, \y z to 2 in. long, the scales 

 thickened at the end and without 

 points. A straggling shrub, sometimes 

 a low tree, found wild in the extreme 

 Northern States. 



22. Plnus 6dulis, Engelm. (PiNON OR 



NUT-PINE.) Leaves mostly in pairs, rarely 



in threes, 1 to \V Z in. long, from short 



sheaths, light-colored, rigid, curved or 



straightish, spreading; cones sessile, glo- 

 bose or nearly so, 2 in. long; tips of scales 



thick, conical-truncate, no awns or prickles ; 



seeds large, nut-like, wingless, edible. A 



low, round-topped tree, branching from 



near the base, 10 to 25 ft. high ; from the 



Rocky Mountains. A fine small pine ; cul- 

 tivated in the East. It needs some 

 protection at Boston. The figure shows 

 the seed. Plnus monophy'lla, Torr. 

 and Frem., from the mountain regions 

 farther west, has its leaves in ones 

 and twos ; when in ones, round and 

 very rigid ; when in pairs, flat on the 

 inner side ; leaves on the young shoots 

 bluish, glaucous green, or silvery. This 

 is probably only a variety of P. edulis. 

 The seeds of both are so large and nu- 

 tritious that they are extensively used 

 for food by the Indians. 



P. monophtflJa, 



