( 8T ) 
PITCH PINE. 
Pinus rigida. P. arbor ramosa ; cortice scabro-rvnosa ; gemmis resinosis ; 
foliis ternis; amentis masculis erecto-incunibentibus ; strobilis sparsis vél 
aggregates ; squamis echinatis ; spinis rigidis. 
This species is known in all the United States by the name of Pitch 
Pine , and sometimes in Virginia by that of Black Pine , but no where by 
that of Three-leaved Virginian Pine , which is used by Sir A. B. Lambert. 
Except the maritime parts of the Atlantic States, and the fertile regions 
west of the Alleghany mountains, it is found throughout the United States, 
but most abundantly upon the Atlantic coast, where the soil is diversified 
but generally meager. The vicinity of Brunswick in the District of Maine, 
and of Burlington on Lake Champlain, in the State of Vermont, are the 
most northern points at which I have observed it ; in these places it com- 
monly grows in light, even, friable, sandy soils, which it occupies almost 
exclusively. It does not exceed 12 or 15 feet in height, and its slender 
branches, laden with puny cones, evince the feebleness of its vegetation. 
In Pennsylvania and Virginia, the ridges of the Alleghanies are some- 
times covered with it, as I have remarked in travelling from Philadelphia 
to Pittsburg, and particularly in traversing the South Mountains, on the 
ridge called Saddle Hill, 30 miles from Bedford. Here the soil is a little 
more generous, consisting of clay thickly sown with stones, and the Pitch 
Pine is 35 or 40 feet high, and 12 or 15 inches in diameter. 
In the lower part of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, it is fre- 
quently seen in the large swamps filled with the Red Cedar, which are 
constantly miry or covered with water; in such situations it is 70 or 80 
feet high, and from 20 to 28 inches in diameter, and exceeds the sur- 
rounding trees both in bulk and elevation. It supports a long time the 
presence of sea-water, which in spring-tides overflows the salt-meadows, 
where it is sometimes found alone of its genus. 
The buds of the Pitch Pine are always resinous, and its triple leaves 
vary in length from an inch and a half to 7 inches, according to the degree 
of moisture in the soil. The aments are an inch long, straight and winged 
like those of the Pond Pine. The size of the cones depends upon the 
nature of the soil, and varies from less than an inch to more than 3 inches 
