Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/539

 PINE 523 on the young shoot, solitary or several togeth- er, consisting of numerous imbricated capillary scales (or open pistils), each in the axis of a persistent bract ; at the base of each scale is a pair of ovules which are inverted, i. e., have the foramen or structural apex pointing down- ward. In ripening to form the cone the scales of the catkins become hard and woody, and with some exceptions thickened at the apex ; each has at its base two nut-like seeds, which are more or less sunk in cavities at the base of the scale; when the seed leaves the scale it usually carries away a portion of the lining attached to it as a wing, much more conspic- uous in some species than in others. The cones do not mature until the autumn of the second year after flowering ; when perfectly ripe and dry the scales spread apart to liberate the seed, after which in some species the cones themselves fall, but in others they are persistent. The embryo has more than two cotyledons, sometimes as many as 12 ; some botanists regard these as two cotyledons divided. The pines, with the exception of one species in the Ca- naries, are confined to America, Europe, and Asia, and are more abundant in the temperate and cooler portions of these, where they form large forests. No trees are so useful to the arts of civil- ized life as these, as they not only fur- nish in abundance kinds of wood for which there is no proper substitute, but their other products are of great utili- ty ; the abundant juice of some species, which consists of a resin dissolved in a volatile oil, affords turpentines of vari- ous kinds, spirits of turpentine, rosin, tar, pitch, and other minor products. In several species the nuts are edible, and are not only eaten by wild animals ^ but collected for food. In ornamental planting pines are exceedingly useful, as they present a great variety of habit and foliage, from species which never rise above a few feet up to those with trunks large enough for a ship's mast. In ar- ranging the species of the Atlantic states ac- cording to the number of leaves in a cluster, but one is found with its leaves in fives, viz., P. strobus, the common white pine; in Eng- land, from its having succeeded admirably at the seat of Lord Wey mouth, who planted it largely, this is universally known as the Wey- mouth pine. It extends from about 54 N. to the mountains of Georgia, and from Nova Scotia to the Rocky mountains, and in the north it reaches nearly to the Pacific. Along our northern borders it once formed extensive forests, but the few of these which still re- main yearly diminish before the lumberman's axe; it is the tallest tree of the eastern states, specimens of 120 to 150 ft. being com- mon in the primitive forests, and some have been felled which measured 223, 250, and 264 ft. ; growing in the dense forest where nature does her own pruning, a clear trunk of TO to 90 ft. without a branch was formerly not rare ; the forests of Maine have furnished many masts of these lengths. The bark, except upon old trunks, is quite smooth ; the cones, which are cylindrical and narrow and often curved, are 4 to 6 in. long, and fall soon after shedding their seed ; they are unlike the cones of all other species of the same region in having their scales scarcely if at all thickened at the apex, and wholly destitute of any point or prickle ; these characters of the cone and the five leaves in the cluster readily distinguish it from any other species. In some specimens the wood of the white pine is quite free from resin, while others contain a considerable quantity; for these peculiar differences the lumbermen have distinguishing names, such as pumpkin pine, bull sapling, &c., which are not known else- White Pine (Pinus strobus). where ; the wood, though lacking in strength and decaying readily when exposed, is so easily worked, and receives paint so well, that it is adapted to a wide range of uses, and is in more general demand than any other wood, espe- cially for interior work ; its lightness and the great length of clear trunk it affords make it suitable for masts, and for the framework of bridges and buildings. While the trunk soon decays when exposed, the roots are remark ably durable, and in clearings remain perfectly sound after those of trees with much more durable wood have disappeared. As a tree for planting for timber, it has great value, as it is of very rapid growth, instances being known in which the annual increase of the trunk in diameter was nearly an inch ; besides this, its timber is increasing in value as the native for- ests rapidly disappear. It is much prized as an ornamental tree, being perfectly hardy and