LONGLEAF PINE; SOUTHERN PINE (Finns pcdustriJ, Mill.). 90 to 120 feet. Tall, slender tree forming loose, oblong head of stout, twisted limbs. Bark reddish brown, with orange tinge, deeply furrowed into scaly plates. Wood heavy, strong, yellowish brown, durable, very hard, tough, best of all pine lumber, used for heavy construction work of all kinds, for interior finish and flooring, fuel and charcoal. Resin supplies turpentine and other "naval stores." Leaves 8 to 18 inches long, dark green, in crowded tufts on ends of branches, 3 in each sheath of silvery, long scales, flexible, pendent, persis tent 2 years. Flowers profuse, purplish: staminate clusters
crowded near end of twig; pistillate 2 to 4 cones in short stalked clusters below growing tip, scales thin, broad. Fruits tapering cones, slightly curved, 8 to 10 inches long, brown, the scales set with small, reflexed prickles; seeds triangular, z inch long, with long wing and a prominent ridge. Dist.: Virginia to Florida and Mississippi River in a belt 125 miles wide skirting the coast. Isolated forests in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.