336 



WEEDS AXD rSEFUl. PLAXTS. 



Trmnk 50- 100 feet high, with a thick, coarse, deeply-furrowed hark. Leatu 6--1O 

 inches long, light green. Co?ies 2-5 inches long. 

 Virginia and southward. 



01)S. A much more abundant and less valuable tree than the next ; 

 its wood containing much less resin. According to Elliott, " its seed 

 is dispersed so easily and so universally over the country, that all lands 

 which are thrown out of cultivation are immmediately covered with this 

 tree." 



6. P. paius'tris, L. Leaves fasiculate in threes, very long ; scales of 

 the branches pinnatifid, portions of them persistent ; strobiles elongat- 

 ed, conoid, — the scales armed with small recurved spines. 



Marsh Pinus. Yellow Pine (of the South). Long-leaved Pine. 



Stern 80-100 feet high, and 2-3 or 4 feet in diameter, with a smoothish bark — the 

 branches ronsrh with the persistent remains of the stipules (stipules ramentaceous). 

 Leaves 9-15 inches long. Strobiles 6-9 Inches long. 



Sandy soils : Virginia to Florida, i^^. April. i^'^C August -September. 



Ohs. This is a most important and valuable species. It yields the 

 firmest and most durable lumber, for house and ship-building, of any of • 

 the genus. The superior " heart-pine" boards, for flooring, &c., and the 

 string pieces for railroads (where a wooden superstructure is used), are 

 furnished by this tree. " From the sap of the living tree," says Mr. El- 

 liott, " most of the turpentine of commerce is obtained." Tar is pro- 

 cured by charring the wood and roots of this, and other species, by 

 a smothered fire, which melts the turpentine and mixes it wit}i the sap 

 and juices of the wood. Pitch is the residuum, left by boiling far until 

 the watery portion is driven off. The ground where this tree prevails, 

 becomes thickly covered by the long leaves — which the Southern people 

 call straw. 



* * Leaves in Jives : harTc smooth : scales of tlie cones neither thicliened nor 

 jpriclihj-pointed at the end. 



7. P. Stro'bus, L. Leaves scarcely sheathed at base, long and slender; 

 strobiles oblong, sub-cylindric, nodding. 



White Pine. Weymouth Pine. New England Pine. 



Stem 60 or 80-120 feet or more in he'ght, and 2-4 or 5 feet in diameter, straight and 

 with a smooth bark — especially while young ; branches verticillate, slender, rather few 

 and those near the summit when the Trees are crowded. Leaves 3 -5 or 6 inches long, 

 linear, blush or glaucous-green. Strobile 3-5 inches long, somewhat curved; scales 

 cuneate-obovate. 



Kich soils, bottom lands, along streams, &c. : Canada to Virginia. J?'/. May. Fr. Axig.- 

 September. 



Ohs. This is also a most valuable tree, — furnishing an immense amount 

 of lumber, in the form of boards and scantling, — and, of late years — 

 since the Cypress has become somewhat scarce and dear — it is exten- 

 sively wrought into shingles. Being fine-grained, and comparatively 

 free from turpentine, the White Pine is much used for the interior wood- 

 work of houses — except floors — for which purpose it is rather soft. 



