THE PITCH PINES Leaf bundles in persistent sheaths. Cone scales thick, usually armed. Wood heavy, resinous, coarse grained, usually dark coloured.
KeY TO SPECIES A. Leaves 5 in a bundle, stout, dark green.
B. Cones 4 to 6 inches long; leaves 9 to 13 inches long. (P. Torreyana) TORREY'S PINE BB. Cones 2 to 2 inches long; leaves 5 to 7 inches long. (P. Arionica) ARIZONA YELLOW PINE AA. Leaves 3 in a bundle.
B. Length of leaf, more than 6 inches.
C. Colour of foliage pale green.
D. Cones 6 to 14 inches long; leaves 8 to 12 inches long, bluish, stout, flexible.
(P. Sabiniana) DIGGER PINE DD. Cones 3 to 5 inches long; leaves 6 to 9 inches long, slender, stiff, twisted.
(P. Teeda) LOBLOLLY PINE CC. Colour of foliage dark green.
D. Cones 2 to 3 inches long; leaves 6 to 8 inches long, yellowish, slender, flexible.
(P. serotina) POND PINE DD. Cones 6 to to inches long; leaves 8 to 18 inches long, slender, flexible.
(P. palustris) LONGLEAF PINE DDd. Cones to to 14 inches long ; leaves 6 to 12 inches long, bluish, stout, stiff.
(P. Cou/teri) BIG-CONE PINE BB. Length of leaf less than 6 inches.
C. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, stiff, yellow green; cones t to 3 inches long, opening when ripe.
(P. rigida) PITCH PINE C. Leaves 4 to 5 inches long, slender, stiff; cones 3 to 6 inches long, unsymmetrical, not opening when ripe.
(P. attenuata) KNOB-CONE PINE AAA. Leaves 2 or 3 in a bundle.
B. Length of leaf more than 6 inches; stout, dark green. C. Leaves 8 to ta inches long; cones 3 to 6 inches long, lateral. (P. Caribera) CUBAN PINE CC. Leaves 5 to t t inches long; cones 3 to is inches long, terminal. (P. ponderosa) YELLOW PINE BB. Length of leaf less than 6 inches; slender.
C. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, bluish green; cones to 2} inches long, symmetrical.
(P. echinata) SHORTLEAF PINE CC. Leaves 4 to 6 inches long, bright green ; cones 3 to 5 inches long, unsymmetrical.
(P. radiata) MONTEREY PINE AAaa. Leaves 2 in a bundle. ' B. Length of leaf 4 to 6 inches; colour, dark green. C. Cones about a inches long, scales unarmed.
(P. resinosa) RED PINE CC. Cones about 3 inches long, scales armed with stout beaks. (P.muricata) PRICKLE-CONE PINE
BB. Length of leaf I to 3 inches; cones i to 3 inches long.
C. Leaves blue-green, stiff, twisted.
(P. pungens) TABLE-MOUNTAIN PINE CC. Leaves dark green, slender.
D. Cones oblique, set with stout, recurved prickles.
E. Branches dark brown.
(P. contorta) SCRUB PINE EE. Branches ashy grey. (P. clausa) SAND PINE DD. Cones not oblique, set with minute prickles.
(P. glabra) SPRUCE PINE CCc. Leaves grey-green, stout, in remote clusters. D. Cones 2 to 3 inches long; scales armed with sharp prickles. (P. Virginiana) JERSEY PiNE DD. Cones 11 to 2 inches long; scales unequal, unarmed. (P. divaricata) GREY PINE Torrey's Pine (P. Torreyana, Parry) grows on a strip of territory eight miles long and less than two miles wide along the mouth of the Soledad River in southern California, and on the neighbouring Island of Santa Rosa. It is a nut pine with large, thick, edible seeds upon which Indians and Mexicans formerly subsisted, eating them raw or roasted.
The tree is distinguished by its dark-green, tufted leaves, which are 9 to 13 inches long, and cluster in fives in close sheaths. The cones are abundant, oval, woody and heavy, the scales set with stout recurving beaks.
Though driven to the wall, as it were, this pine seems dis posed to make the most of its chances. Seedlings are numerous and vigorous among the elder trunks, and as there is little demand for its wood, the species is likely to hold its own.
The Yellow Pine (P. ,4rionica, Engelm.) is the Southern counterpart of its close relative, P. ponderosa. They are both lumber trees of importance in the Rocky Mountain regions. The Arizona yellow pine is often inaccessible, as it grows on steep declivities and in deep canons from which the logs cannot be taken, even after the trees are felled. This tree is one of the 5 leaved pitch pines, with leaves 5 to 7 inches long, and small spiny cones. The bulk of the forests of this tree grow across the Mexican border, at elevations 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea.