The loblolly pine, P. Taeda, a tall tree with straight trunk and spreading top, covers great tracts of the "pine-barrens" of the southern States, but also frequently spreads over deserted arable lands that have been impoverished by long and bad farming; hence the woodsmen call it the "old-field" pine, while, from the fragrance of its abundant resin, it is also known- as the frankin cense pine. It is a fine species 8o to i oo ft. high, having sometimes a girth of 6 or 8 ft. The timber of this pine, though soft and brit tle, is much used for lumber and the forests of it are of importance because of the turpentine they yield.
The western yellow pine or bull pine, P. ponderosa, which grows from 15o ft. to 200 ft. high, with a massive trunk 5 ft. to 8 ft. in diameter, is noted for the extreme density of its wood, which barely floats in water; it is the most widely distributed pine tree of the mountain forests of western North America from British Columbia to South Dakota (Black Hills) and south to Texas and Mexico. It is the chief lumber pine of the Pacific States, where it is second in importance only to the Douglas fir (q.v.). The Coulter pine, P. Coulteri, is remarkable for its enormous cones (sometimes a foot long, 6 in. in diameter, and weighing more than 4 lb.) ; the scales end in long hooked points curving upwards; the leaves are long, rigid, and glaucous in hue. Nearly related to this is the digger pine, P. Sabiniana, of California, the cones of which are 7 to 9 in. long and 5 to 6 in. in diameter, also with hooked scales; the large nut-like seeds are eaten by the Indians; the tree some times attains a height of 8o ft. and a trunk diameter of 4 feet. The beautiful Monterey pine, P. radiata, found sparingly along the California coast, is distinguished by the brilliant colour of its foliage. The Torrey pine, P. Torreyana, with leaves i2 in. long, found only in a narrow strip some 8 m. in length, along the coast near San Diego, Calif., and on Santa Barbara island, is the least widely distributed of all known pines.
The pitch pine, P. rigida, found from the coast of Massachu setts south-westward throughout the Appalachian region, is a tree of from 4o to 5o ft. in height with rugged trunk, occasionally 3 ft. in diameter; the short dark-green leaves are in thick tufts, con trasting with the pale yellowish, usually clustered cones, the scales of which are furnished with small curved spines. Large quantities of tar and pitch are obtained from this species. The tree is one of the few that will flourish in salt-marshes.
factures the total cut in 1925 of both soft-wood and hard-wood lumber was 38,338,614,00o bd. ft.; this had an aggregate value at the mill of $1,074,248,000. Of this total there was cut from pine trees an aggregate of 18,191,284,000 bd. ft., valued at the mill at $500,660,114. The pine forests of the country, therefore, contributed 47.5% of the footage and 46.6% of the value of all lumber produced. For the same year the total cut of soft-wood lumber was 31,686,919,00o bd. ft., which had a mill value of $824,342,161. Toward these totals pine lumber furnished 57.1% of the footage and comprised 60.7% of the mill value. Further details confirming the pre-eminence of pine timber in the soft wood lumber industry of the country are shown in the accom panying table Sugar-pine lumber, cut from a single species (P. Lambertiana) and produced commercially only in California (97.5%) and Ore gon (2.5%), in 5925 commanded the highest average price at the mill of any pine lumber cut in the United States. Lodge-pole pine lumber is produced in small quantities in the Rocky Mountain States—Wyoming contributing 48%; Colorado, 42%, Montana, 5%; and Utah, 4%, of the total footage. See UNITED STATES: Fauna and Flora, Plate VII., and the map showing forest distri bution.
For further details see, A. Engler and K. Prantl, Die natfirlichen Pflanzenfamilien (1887-1908) ; A. Veitch, Manual of the Coniferae (1915) ; C. S. Sargent, Manual of the Trees of North America (1905, 2nd. ed. 1922) ; L. H. Bailey, Manual of Cultivated Plants (1924); G. B. Sudworth, "Check List of the Forest Trees of the United States," U.S. Dept. Agric. Misc. Cir. 92 (1927).
The pine-apple so called consists in reality of the inflorescence of the plant, the originally separate flowers of which, together with the bracts supporting them, become fleshy and consolidated into one mass. The swelling and fusion of the tissues take place after the process of fertilization, and it may be that the richly perfumed succulent mass is an aid in the distri bution of seed by affording food to certain animals. In the highly developed cultivated pines, however, it frequently happens that the seeds do not ripen properly. The pine-apple, Ananas sativus, is a member of the family Bromeliaceae, of tropical American origin, where it is widely spread; and it is now naturalized in the tropical regions of the Old World. It is cultivated on an exten sive commercial scale in the Hawaiian Islands.