Leaves linear, in clusters of 2, 3, 5 or more than 5. | |
Leaves in bundles of 2-5. | [1 Pinus.] |
Leaves in bundles of more than 5. | [2 Larix.] |
Leaves linear and solitary, or scale-like. | |
Leaves all linear. | |
Leaves obtuse. | [3 Tsuga.] |
Leaves sharp-pointed. | |
Leaves green on both sides, alternate. | [4 Taxodium.] |
Leaves glaucous beneath, opposite or whorled. | [6 Juniperus.] |
Leaves all scale-like, or some of the branches with linear sharp-pointed leaves. | |
Leaves all scale-like, fruit a cone of 8-12 imbricated scales. | [5 Thuja.] |
Leaves scale-like or some linear and sharp-pointed, fruit berry-like. | [6 Juniperus.] |
Evergreen trees with needle-shaped leaves in bundles of 2-5 or 7; flowers appearing in the spring, the staminate clustered at the base of the season's shoots, the pistillate on the side or near the end of the shoots; fruit a woody cone which matures at the end of the second season, or more rarely at the end of the third season; scales of the cone variously thickened; seeds in pairs at the base of the scales.
There are about 70 species of pines of which three are native to Indiana. Commercially the pines are classed as soft and hard. In our area the soft pines are represented by the white pine, while the gray and Jersey pines are classed as hard pines.
| Leaves 5 in a bundle, 6-12 cm. long. | [1 P. Strobus.] |
| Leaves 2-3 in a bundle. | |
| Scales of cones unarmed, leaves usually 2-4 cm. long. | [2 P. Banksiana.] |
| Scales of cones tipped with a short spine, leaves usually over 4 cm. long. | [3 P. virginiana.] |
1. Pinus Stròbus Linnæus. White Pine. [Plate 2.] Bark greenish and smooth on young trees, becoming reddish or gray and furrowed on old trees; young twigs scurvy-pubescent, soon smooth and light brown; leaves normally 5 in a bundle, sometimes more, 6-12 cm. long, 3-sided, sharp-pointed, bluish-green, maturing and falling at end of second season; cones ripening at end of second season, usually 10-20 cm. long; wood light, soft, not strong, works easily, takes a good polish, and warps little.
Distribution.—Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Iowa, Kentucky and along the Alleghany Mountains to northern Georgia. The mass distribution of this species is to the north of our area, and in Indiana it is local and found in small numbers. It is a common tree on some of the dunes bordering Lake Michigan, and is found locally throughout the area bordering Lake Michigan. Its distribution in this part of the State has not been studied, but it is believed that in Lake and Porter Counties it is not at present found far from the Lake. Blatchley[1] reports "a thicket of this species about a peat bog on the Hayward farm one mile east of Merrillville in Lake County." The writer has seen it as a frequent tree in a black oak woods about four miles southwest of Michigan City, also quite a number of large trees seven miles northeast of Michigan City in a swampy woods, associated with white elm, black ash, soft maple, etc.
Nieuwland[2] reports a single tree found in a tamarack swamp 25 miles east of Michigan City near Lydick in St. Joseph County. The next appearance of this species is to the south in Warren County on the outcrops of sandstone along Big Pine, Little Pine, Rock and Kickapoo Creeks. It is found more or less on bluffs of these creeks. It was the most abundant along Big Pine Creek, and followed up the creek for a distance of about ten miles, or midway between Rainsville and Indian Village. To the south it is next found in Fountain County on the outcrops of sandstone along Big Shawnee and Bear Creeks. Franklin Watts who owns the "Bear Creek Canyon" just south of Fountain says he remembers the area before any cutting was done along the creek. He says that the white pine was a common tree along the creek for a distance of half a mile and that a few scattered trees were found as far as 40 rods from the creek. He stated that the largest trees were about 30 inches in diameter and as high as the highest of the surrounding trees. Moving southward it is next found on a ridge of sandstone in Montgomery County on the south side of Sugar Creek about a mile east of the shades. Here it is closely associated with hemlock which is absent in all of the stations to the north. Coulter[3] reports a colony in the "knobs" of the northeast corner of Floyd County. This species was also reported from Clark County by Baird and Taylor. The writer has made inquiry and diligently searched for this species in this county but failed to locate it. In the vicinity of Borden where the Jersey pine grows, millmen distinguish two kinds of pines. Investigation showed that both are Jersey pine. The one with resinous exudations along the trunk is one kind, and trunks without exudation is the other. Since Baird and Taylor include cultivated trees in their list of the plants of Clark County, it is proposed to drop this reference.