Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/542

 526 PINE and 10 ft. in diameter, and isolated specimens reach 300 ft. with a diameter of 20 ft. ; the leaves, about 3 in. long, are bluish green ; the cones are from 12 to 18 in. long, 3 to 4 in. in diameter, slightly curved, and with thin scales ; seed edible. The wood, much like that of the white pine, is preferred for inside work to all others of the region ; the resin is clear, and that which exudes from partly burned trees loses all terebinthinate taste, and becomes sweet ; it is used as a substitute for sugar, but oftener for its slightly cathartic properties, in which as well as in appearance it resembles manna. The tree promises to be valuable in cultivation in the eastern states. The moun- tain pine (P. monticola) is another species much resembling our white pine, and common in the mountains of northern California and Oregon. Among the prominent species with Cone of Great-hooked or Coulter's Pine (Pinus Coulteri), about one quarter natural size. three leaves is the great-hooked pine (P. Coul- teri, Don; P. macrocarpa, Lindl.), about the identity of which there has been some discus- sion, some regarding it as only a variety of Sabine's pine. It is found in the mountains of various parts of California, where it grows 80 to 100 ft. high ; its leaves are 9 in. long, and the cones, which are the largest of any in the genus, are a foot or more long, 6 in. in diameter at the middle, and weigh about 4 Ibs. ; the scales terminate in a recurved and com- pressed spine 3 or 4 in. long; the large and flat seeds are edible. Sabine's pine (P. Sabi- niana), also called nut pine in California, is another species with enormous edible-seeded cones ; it is found very generally in California and extends into Oregon. It has a more spread- ing habit than most pines ; leaves 10 to 14 in. long ; cones 8 to 10 in. long, the scales ending in a sharp curved point ; the wood is not es- Western Yellow Pine (Pinua ponderosa). pecially valuable, but the seeds are of great importance to the Indians, who depend upon Cone of New Mexican Nut Pine (Pinus edulis). them for a large part of their food. The west- ern yellow pine (P. ponderosa) is the most