PINUS STROBUS Linnæus. (× 1/2.) White Pine.
Remarks.—White pine on account of the excellent qualities of its wood is in great demand, and has always ranked as one of our leading timber trees. In fact it was so highly prized that practically all of the original stand of this species has been cut.
The tree adapts itself to many habitats, hence has been used extensively for forestry purposes both in America and Europe. In fact it was the most used tree in forestry until about ten years ago when the white pine blister rust was discovered in America. This disease is now found in practically all of the states where this species forms dense stands. However, Federal and State authorities are trying to stamp out the disease. In Indiana it is a species well worth a trial for forestry purposes, especially in windbreaks where other species are used.
2. Pinus Banksiàna Lambert. Gray Pine. Jack Pine. [Plate 3.] A small tree 10-15 m. high with reddish-brown bark, broken into short flakes; shoots of season yellow-green, turning reddish-brown, smooth; leaves dark green, in twos, 2-5 cm. long, divergent, curved or twisted, rigid, sharp-pointed, persisting for two or three years; cones sessile, sharp-pointed, oblique at the base, 3-5 cm. long, usually pointing in the direction of the branch; wood light, soft and weak.
Distribution.—The most northern of all of our pines. Nova Scotia to northern New York, northern Illinois, Minnesota and northward. In Indiana it is found only on and among the sand dunes in the immediate vicinity of Lake Michigan, and in no instance has it been seen more than three miles from the Lake. Found sparingly in Lake, Porter and Laporte Counties. It is the most abundant in the vicinity of Dune Park.