PINETUM DANICUM. 



347 



Wood heavy, exceedingly hard, very strong, tough, coarse-grained, 

 compact, durable ; bands of small summer cells broad, occupying 

 fully half the width of the annual growth, very resinous, dark- 

 coloured, resin passages few, not conspicuous ; medullary rays 

 numerous, conspicuous ; colour light red or orange, the thin sap wood 

 nearly white ; specific gravity, 0*6999 ; ash, 0*25 ; largely manu- 

 factured into lumber and used in construction of all sorts, for ship- 

 building, fencing, railway ties, &c, (C. S. Sargent), 



The turpentine, tar, pitch, resin, and spirits of turpentine manu- 

 factured in the United States are almost exclusively produced by this 

 species("U.S. Dispensatory," ed. 14, 709,899, and "Nat. Dispensatory"). 



In the ' ' Sylva Americana " an interesting account of the pro- 

 perties of this Pine is given, from which the following is an extract : — 

 " This invaluable tree is known, both in the countries which pro- 

 duce it and in those to which it is exported, by diflferent names. In 

 the first it is called Long-leaved Pine, Yellow Pine, Pitch Pine, and 

 Brown Pine ; in the Northern States, Southern Pine and Red Pine ; 

 and in England and the West Indies, Georgia Pitch Pine. We have 

 preferred the first denomination, because this species has longer leaves 

 than any other eastward of the Mississippi, and because the names of 

 the Yellow Pine and Pitch Pine, which are more commonly employed, 

 serve in the Middle States to designate two species entirely distinct 

 and extensively difi"used. Towards the north, this tree first makes its 

 appearance near Norfolk in Virginia, where the Pine-barrens begin. 

 It seems to be especially assigned to dry, sandy soils, and it is found 

 without interruption in the lower parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, and 

 the Floridas, over a tract of more than COO miles long from north-east 

 to south-west, and more than 100 miles broad from the sea towards 

 the mountains of the Carolinas and Georgia. 



"The mean stature of the Long-leaved Pine is 60 or 70 feet, with 

 a uniform diameter of 15 or 20 inches for two-thirds of this height. 

 Some stalks, favoured by local circumstances, attain much larger 

 dimensions, particularly in East Florida. The bark is somewhat fur- 

 rowed, and the epidermis detaches itself in thin transparent sheets. 

 The leaves are about a foot long, of a beautiful brilliant green, united 

 to the number of three in the same sheath, and collected in bunches 

 at the extremity of the branches ; they are longer and more numerous 

 on the young stalks. The buds are very large, white, fringed, and not 

 resinous. The bloom takes place in April. The male flowers form 

 masses of divergent violet-coloured aments, about 2 inches long ; in 

 drying they shed great quantities of yellowish pollen, which is diffused 

 by the wind, and forms a momentary covering on the surface of the 

 land and w^ater. The cones are very large, being 7 or 8 inches 

 long and 4 inches thick when open, and are armed with small 

 retorted spines. In the fruitful year they are ripe about the middle 

 of October, and shed their seeds the same month. The kernel is of 



