The eastern white pine, P. Strobus, known also as Weymouth pine, because of its large growth and soft even grain of its white wood, is one of the most valuable of North American timber trees. It once formed extensive forests from Newfoundland to Manitoba and along the northern border of the United States from Maine to Minnesota and also southward in the mountains to Georgia, but it has been so long sought for by the lumberer that most of the old trees have long disappeared. On a deep rich soil P. Strobus sometimes attains a height of 200 ft., and a trunk diameter of 4 to 6 feet. The wood of the white pine is durable for indoor use, especially when protected by paint, its smooth easily-worked grain rendering it a favourite wood for the house-carpenter and joiner. The western white pine, P. monticola, a mountain species of the north-western United States and British Columbia, with light brown wood, is extensively cut for lumber, especially in Idaho.
The sugar pine or giant pine, P. Lambertiana, of California, the largest of known pines, rises to a height of 200 ft. to 2 20 ft., with a trunk from 6 ft. to 8 ft., or occasionally 12 ft. in diameter. The head is of a pyramidal form, the lower branches drooping like those of a Norway spruce ; its foliage is of a light bright green colour. The pendent cones are very large, sometimes i8 in. long and 4 in. in diameter, with large nut-like seeds, which, pounded and baked, are eaten by the Indians. It is lumbered extensively, the wood being highly valued for indoor carpentry.
The pitch pines have usually heavy, coarse-grained, mostly dark-coloured wood, with pale often thick sapwood ; the sheaths of the leaf-clusters are persistent (except in the Chihuahua pine), the leaves have two fibro-vascular bundles, and are arranged mostly in three-leaved and two-leaved clusters. There are some
24 species about equally divided in number between the region east of the Great Plains and the region extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast.
The group of pitch pines with the leaves usually in three-leaved clusters includes several of the most valuable trees of North America. Among these are the longleaf pine (P. palustris), the slash pine (P. caribaea), the loblolly pine (P. Taeda), the pitch pine (P. rigida) and the pond pine (P. serotina), of the southern States, and the western yellow pine (P. ponderosa), the Jeffrey pine (P. Jeffreyi) and the Arizona pine (P. arizonica), of the Pacific States. Other representatives of the three-leaved group are the Monterey pine (P. radiata), the knob-cone pine (P. attenuata). the digger pine (P. Sabiniana) and the Coulter pine (P. Coulteri), of California and Oregon, and also the Chihuahua pine (P. leiophylla) of the Mexican border.
The group of pitch pines with leaves usually in two-leaved clusters also comprises several important trees. Among these are the red or Norway pine (P. resinosa), the grey or jack pine (P. Banksiana), the spruce pine (P. glabra), the shortleaf pine (P. ec/iinata), the Virginia pine (P. virginiana), the sand pine (P. clausa) and the mountain pine (P. pungens), of the region east of the Rocky Mountains. Here belong also the lodge-pole pine (P. contorta), found from New Mexico to Alaska, and the knob-cone pine (P. attenuata), of California and Oregon. Other representa tives of the two-leaved group are the bishop pine (P. muricata) and the rare Torrey pine (P. Torreyana), both confined to the California coast.
Long-leaf pine (P. palustris) is the "Georgia pitch pine," or yel low pine of the southern States ; it abounds on sandy soils from the Carolinas, and Florida westward to Louisiana and Texas. The most marked feature of the tree is its long tufted foliage—the leaves, of a bright green tint, springing from long white sheaths, being often a foot in length. The tall columnar trunk, sometimes 120 ft. high, furnishes one of the most valued pine timbers of the United States ; close-grained and resinous, it is very durable and polishes well ; it is largely employed in construction work, and large quantities are exported, especially to Great Britain and the West Indies. This tree is the chief lumber-producing pine of the southern United States; it also yields large quantities of tar and turpentine.