Fig. 284, Cones. Fig. 285, Conelet and its enlarged spinose scale. Fig. 286, Leaf-fascicle, magnified leaf-section and more magnified dermal tissues of the leaf. Fig. 287, Buds.
53. PINUS CLAUSA
- 1884 P. clausa Vasey ex Sargent, Rep. 10th Cens. U. S. ix. 199.
Spring-shoots multinodal. Bark-formation slow, as in the preceding species. Leaves binate, from 5 to 9 cm. long; resin-ducts medial, or with an occasional internal duct, hypoderm biform when of two rows of cells. Conelets with long tapering acute scales. Cones from 5 to 8 cm. long, reflexed, ovate-conic, symmetrical, persistent, often serotinous; apophyses lustrous nut-brown, elevated along a transverse keel, the umbo forming a triangular persistent spine.
A species of limited range, confined to the sandy coast of Alabama and to Florida. It sometimes attains timber-size, but is usually a low spreading tree of no commercial importance and never seen in cultivation. It is recognized by its smooth branches, binate leaves and numerous, often multiserial, clusters of persistent, often closed, cones. It is associated with P. caribaea and, in the northern part of its range, it grows with the other Southern species. By its close resemblance it may be considered the serotinous form of P. virginiana.
Fig. 288, Three nodal groups of cones of the same year. Fig. 289, Conelet and its enlarged scale. Fig. 290, Leaf-fascicle and magnified leaf-section. Fig. 291, Larger form of the tree.
