Fig. 236. Pitch pine. One-third natural size.
A pitch pine branch is shown in [Fig. 234]. The part between the tip and A is the past season's growth. Observe the foliage on the part that is two years old. Part of it has fallen. We often find it on growth which is older than this; but in this specimen there are no leaves on the three-year wood.
The cone of the pitch pine is very unlike that of the white pine. [Fig. 235] gives a good idea of one that has shed its seeds. Compare this with [Fig. 233]; or, better, examine the two kinds of cones side by side. The pitch pine cones are sometimes borne in clusters of two or more and they persist,—that is, remain on the tree for several years after the seeds have ripened and scattered.
Notice how the new cones are borne with reference to last season's growth. Are they attached to the tip of a branchlet? Or are they closely attached to the side of a branch? [Figs. 236] and [237] will help us answer this question. The little cones in [Fig. 237] near the tip of the twig, are just beginning to form.
Fig. 237. Pitch pine, showing young cones. Half natural size.
The pitch pine usually grows in sandy or rocky soil and is found in the United States along the Atlantic coast to Virginia, along the mountains to Georgia, westward to Western New York, Eastern Ohio, Kentucky, and Eastern Tennessee. It has little value as timber, because it does not grow large enough.
Scotch and Austrian Pines.
In the same manner other pines may be studied. [Fig. 238] shows a cone and a bit of foliage of the Scotch pine, and [Fig. 239] the Austrian pine. These cones grew the past season and are not yet mature. After they ripen and shed the seeds which they contain, they will look somewhat like the cone in Fig 235. The Scotch pine has short and blue-green needles. The Austrian pine is coarser, and has long dark-green needles.
There are but two leaves in a cluster on these kinds of pines and we shall find that the sheath which incloses the base of the leaf-cluster is more conspicuous than in either the white or the pitch pine. Do the leaves persist in the Scotch and Austrian pines longer than they do in the others we have examined? Study the cones of these and other pines.