Foliage leaves in threes, 3-5 inches long, stout, stiff, dark yellowish-green, 3-sided, sharp-pointed, with two fibrovascular bundles; sessile; sheaths when young about ½ inch long.
Inflorescence.—Sterile flowers at the base of the season's shoots, clustered; stamens numerous; anthers yellow: fertile flowers at a slight angle with and along the sides of the season's shoots, single or clustered.
Fruit.—Cones lateral, single or in clusters, nearly or quite sessile, finally at right angles to the stem or twisted slightly downward, ovoid, ovate-conical; subspherical when open, ripening the second season; scales thickened at the apex, armed with stout, straight or recurved prickles.
Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; well adapted to exposed situations on highlands or along the seacoast; grows in almost any soil, but thrives best in sandy or gravelly moist loams; valuable among other trees for color-effects and occasional picturesqueness of outline; mostly uninteresting and of uncertain habit; subject to the loss of the lower limbs, and not readily transplanted; very seldom offered in quantity by nurserymen; obtainable from collectors, but collected plants are seldom successful. Usually propagated from the seed.
Plate III.—Pinus rigida.
| 1. Branch with sterile flowers. |
| 2. Stamen, front view. |
| 3. Stamen, top view. |
| 4. Branch with fertile flowers. |
| 5. Fertile flower showing bract and ovuliferous scale, outer side. |
| 6. Fertile flower showing ovuliferous scale with ovules, inner side. |
| 7. Fruiting branch with cones one and two years old. |
| 8. Open cone. |
| 9. Seed. |
| 10. Cross-section of leaf. |