Pine tree, Pinus. A large evergreen tree which grows in Europe and North America. There are over twenty known species of pine. [1] The distinguishing features of each species are so marked that it is almost impossible to give a reliable and satisfactory account of them by a general description. We will therefore discuss each species in turn. Pines are divided into three subgenera relative to the number of leaves emanating from a common basal sheath, which is why they are called two-leaved, three-leaved, and five-leaved pines. [2]

Two-leaved pines.

1. The wild or Genevan pine grows into a large ramose tree of which the stem is short and often crooked. [3] The roots are spreading rather than taprooted. The bark, which is grey on the young shoots, becomes reddish over time. The needles are stiff, sharp, filamentous, one or two inches long, and of a pleasant, uniform green. The male flowers or catkins bloom in May; the cones begin to appear at the same time but ripen only after their second winter. They are about one inch thick at the broad end and two or three inches long. They are pointed and their scales are raised by prominent swellings which are curved back towards the base, making them rough to the touch. [4]

This pine springs up readily from scattered seed. It grows quite promptly even in uncultivated land, and tolerates any soil however barren. It may be propagated and raised without being tended, supervised, or cultivated. It thrives in cold places, mountains, and north-facing sites. It grows vigorously in dry, light, poor, superficial soils, and tolerates the barrenest sand and the barest chalk. It makes as much progress in heavy, damp soil as in the hardest clay. In short, it springs up wherever there is a three-inch depth of soil. This pine can withstand salt-laden mists and tempestuous winds, and adapts to every climate of Europe, where it may be found up to the northernmost part of Lapland.

Of all trees, the black pine is possibly the wildest, sturdiest, most uncultivated, and hardiest. It can withstand extremes of temperature, and drought. For five years, I kept a black pine in a six-inch pot which I left in the open ground, neither storing it in winter nor watering it in dry weather. The sapling braved the vicissitudes of every season, and, in spite of the smallness of the pot, grew to a height of four feet. However, since its roots were protruding from the pot, I had it transplanted ten years ago into an uncultivated site near a rock, where it is vigorous and makes as much progress as if it had been raised there from seed.

One can propagate this pine only by sowing the seeds once they have been removed from the cones. One must be certain that the cones are ripe, which is when their green colour becomes reddish in February. This is the proper picking season, for when the dry March winds begin to blow the cones open and the seeds are quickly dispersed by the wind. The cones may be stored for two or three years in an area which is cool but dry, and once the seeds have been removed they remain fertile for a further considerable period. I tested this by conducting a remarkable experiment: each year I sowed pine seeds which had been picked in February 1737 and removed from their cones before being sent from Geneva; the seeds came up consistently for the first eighteen years, but for the next five years, until I stopped sowing them, no further seeds came up. However, it must be acknowledged that the seeds which were sown from year twelve or thirteen produced fewer and fewer seedlings, so that by year eighteen less than one fifth of the seeds came up. One may remove the seeds from the cones by simply placing the cones in the sun or in front of a fire, which will make them open.

In order to sow these seeds, a different method is followed according to the number of seedlings required. If one wishes to procure only a small number of seedlings one must sow in pots or seed trays, because it would be too risky to plant them in the open ground: though the seeds are quite capable of coming up, wintry weather, and especially dry, spring winds which are the scourge of young evergreens, destroy the vast majority. The bottom of the pots or seed trays are covered with a one-inch layer of sand or rubble and then filled up to within one inch of the top with good soil of any description, provided that it is fresh and loose. A half-inch thickness of well-rotted, finely-riddled manure is then placed on top, over which the seed is spread, and the whole is covered with another half-inch layer of compost.

Spring is the only suitable season for sowing pine seeds: sowing may take place from the beginning of March to 20 May, but April is the most reliable month for sowing these seeds.

If one requires a large number of seedlings in order to form pine woods, one must proceed differently. Various people have experimented with a number of different methods, but cultivation and advanced techniques have not produced the desired outcome. When one wishes to work on a large scale in agriculture, it is best to imitate nature as closely as possible. Some people resolved not to spare the seeds, and sowed them profusely on uncultivated land, in grass and ferns, and among junipers, rushes, heaths, etc. This operation, though quite straightforward, has proved almost universally successful. It is true that the seedlings come up only in their third year, but they soon take possession of the land, suffocate the bushes which formerly occupied it, and make such rapid progress that they compensate fully for the delay. However, if one wishes to sow large pine woods with greater precision, one should have some drills ploughed at intervals of 3-4 feet, spread the seeds in them, and cover the seeds lightly with a one-inch layer of soil using a large pick. Even then one may be obliged to wait until the third year for the seeds to spring up, which demands much patience and no cultivation.

When young, this pine takes again admirably following transplantation, but unless they are lifted on their root balls the seedlings should be no more than 2-3 years old, when they may be safely planted in soil which is poor, uncultivated, and superficial even to the point of being only three inches deep. It suffices to plant the seedlings at intervals of four, five, or six feet in small planting holes dug with a pick: one does not need to tend them subsequently except to begin pruning them when they are five or six years of age. Athough pruning accelerates their growth, it must be carried out gradually and sparingly. April is the most suitable month for transplanting pine seedlings, when the dry winds have passed and the seedlings have not yet begun to grow. In cultivated soil, this pine grows to fifteen feet in ten years, and seedlings transplanted in their third year to form pine woods have been known to grow to an average height of twenty-five feet in twenty-one years, in barren, uncultivated, sandy soil only three- inches deep. The advantage of forming only small woods from this pine is that the light seeds are dispersed by the wind, so that after twenty years the wood will have tripled in size. It is true that these pines do not grow uniformly tall, but they do grow in large numbers. The pine is not subject to attack by insects, and although it is exposed to cattle and smaller livestock they do it no harm, either because its resinous odour repels them or because its sharp needles present an obstacle to grazing. This pine cannot tolerate manure, and once it has been felled the stump does not grow back.

2. Scots pine: this is also a wild pine; it closely resembles the black pine, from which it differs in that its needles are shorter, narrower, and paler. The cones are less plump and red, the apophyses and umbos are less prominent, and the stem grows taller and straighter. The two species are propagated and raised in the same manner. Their properties are also the same, and the Scots pine has at least as many uses as the black pine. [5]

3. Cultivated pine, or ‘Piguier’: this pine is widely cultivated in Italy, Spain, and the South of France. [6] It is a fine tree with dense foliage and is spreading rather than upright. The pine needles are about six inches long and are stiff, thick, and of a fine green. When there is sufficient space, the branches bow down to the ground. The crown naturally assumes the form of a squashed pyramid and never gains much height. [7] The cones are short, obtuse, and broad: they are four or five inches long by three or four inches wide. The seeds, which are enclosed beneath the hard cone scales, are called pignons: these pine nuts, which are oval and the same size as hazelnuts, enclose edible pine kernels which may be used in the same way as pistachios. The cones mature in September in hot countries: they open two months later and the pignons fall of their own accord. Stone pines thrive in warm climates but can also be grown in the North of France, where they appear delicate only when young. There are some fine specimens in the Jardin du Roi in Paris, where they have withstood extremely rigorous winters. [8] It is only during the initial raising of this pine that a few precautions must be taken in order to protect it from heavy frost. It can be propagated only from its seeds, which may be sown outdoors in a border against a well-exposed wall and are sometimes protected from the winter cold by some sort of shelter. However, it is safer to sow the seeds in pots or seed trays in the same manner and in the season as those of the black pine. However, the seeds will not come up before about six weeks and will need to be encouraged by frequent watering in dry weather, because since the shells of the pignons are hard, they open only with the help of sustained damp, without which they will take three or four months to spring up. An even better means of avoiding this drawback is to soak the pignons for seven or eight days before sowing them. This tree is transplanted in the same manner as the black pine: it thrives on hills in dry, light, sandy soil; it grows slowly when young, especially following transplantation. It does not bear fruit until it is at least ten or twelve years of age, and takes shape only after fifteen years.

Pignons were formerly in vogue: dragées, pralines, and cream desserts were made from them and they were included in a large number of dishes at the dessert sitting. Pistachios, which are more indifferent, were substituted for them. A sweet oil may be extracted from pignons which has the same properties as almond oil and the marc makes an even better soap.

The wood of the stone pine is whitish: it contains a mediocre quantity of resin and has the same uses as other pinewoods.

4. Mountain, or ‘torch pine’, which is named ‘pin suffis’ in Briançon and Pinus mugo by botanists. It grows into a fine tree. The two-inch needles are stiff, pointed, and of a fine green. The bark on the young shoots is scaly, cinnamon-coloured, and quite glossy. The shoots curve naturally, which enhances the tree. The male flowers or catkins appear in attractive clusters. The cones are about one inch broad and two inches long. They are ovoid and pointed at the tip. [9] They are of a vivid, shiny, cinnamon colour. Their scales are laden with prominent apophyses of varying shapes. The seeds which these cones enclose are the same size as pear pips. The timber is reddish when it has just been felled: it is very resinous, which is why country dwellers use it for making torches.

5. Mountain, or Haguenau pine. [10] This pine closely resembles the mountain pine but its cones are longer, thinner, and more pointed, and it frequently has three needles per fascicle.

6. Maritime pine: this is the most widespread species of pine in our kingdom. [11] It grows into a fine tree which is densely covered with longish needles of a pleasant green. The male flowers or catkins form attractive red clusters in spring. The cones are longer than those of the stone pine but less broad: they are 4-5 by 2½ inches. The apophyses are conical or pyramidal and more or less prominent: in the first case they terminate in a pointed umbo, and in the second in an umbo shaped like a bud. The pignons which the cones enclose are hard and far smaller than those of the stone pine. The wood has the same uses as that of the stone pine and its resin is also tapped.

7. Small maritime pine: this tree grows as tall as the maritime pine and its wood has the same uses, but it has smaller cones and shorter, thinner needles, which is why it is designated as ‘small’. It has been verified near Bordeaux that the seeds of both maritime pines come true. [12]

8. Matthiolus maritime pine. [13] This tree is between the small maritime and the black pine. Its silvery-green needles are thinner and longer than those of the small maritime pine: they grow in clusters resembling plumes at the tips of the young shoots, which are slender, supple, and curved. The other branches are practically devoid of needles, which renders the smooth, grey bark clearly visible. The male flowers or catkins are white and the cones are somewhat broader than those of the black pine. The wood of this pine is resinous but the tree is less beautiful than the other maritime pines.

9. Small, wild pine with greenish catkins.

10. Small, wild pine with purple catkins.

These two pines grow no taller than the height of a man and bear a large number of cones. Their needles are short and resemble those of the Norway spruce. [14] Their branches are also arranged like those of the Norway spruce in regular tiers, so that from a distance these pines may be taken for Norway spruces.

11. Pine with upright cones: this is a little-known pine.

12. Red pine. [15] The needles of this pine are about five inches long and somewhat rounded at the end. The cones are medium-sized and ovoid. This pine closely resembles the mountain pine.

13. Small red pine: this pine differs from the red pine in that its needles are finer and shorter, being only three or four inches long.

14. Grey, or Canadian horned pine. [16] The needles of this pine are so twisted that the tip of each needle touches the base, forming a loop. The cones are similarly curved so that they resemble horns: they are the same shape and size as those of the mountain pine, which the grey and red pines closely resemble. These three pines grow very tall and would be most suitable for making masts were they not too gnarled as a result of the large number of branches shooting along the entire length of the stems. Grey pines are found in dry, sandy soils, and their wood is supple and resinous.

15. Jerusalem or Aleppo pine. [17] The branches of this pine are slender and the bark is ashen. The dark-green needles are about four inches long, and so slender that they cross and intertwine like the branches, giving an irregularity to this tree which is acceptable only because it is singular. The cones are shaped like those of the stone pine but are smaller. [18] The seeds remain fertile for several years even when they have been removed from their cones. Mr Miller, the English author, tested them and found that they came up well for three years. [19] This tree is less hardy than other pines and needs greater protection from frost until it is full grown. It also appears to take longer than other pines to yield fertile seeds.

Three-leaved pines.

16. Virginian pine with rough cones: this pine has three or four needles per fascicle. It becomes a fine tree of striking appearance and grows promptly in light, damp soil. This is all Mr Miller has said of it and he is the only author to have entered into any detail on this tree to date. [20]

17. Virginian pine with thorny cones, known as the Jersey pine in England. [21] This pine grows very tall. There are three needles per fascicle: the needles have stomatal lines running along the entire length of their outer faces, and are somewhat longer and thinner than red pine needles. The cones are more or less the same size as those of the red pine but are more conic; the apophysis of each scale terminates in a pointed umbo which is sufficiently thorny to hurt one’s hand. The wood is supple, extremely resinous, and fine-grained. These are the main points of the description given in M. Duhamel’s treatise on trees. [22]

18. Cluster pine. [23] This pine has three needles per fascicle; they are longer than those of the preceding pine. The cones appear in large clusters with up to twenty cones per cluster. This tree is still rare in France.

19. Marsh pine. [24] This tree grows in wet sites in America: it can scarcely tolerate dry soil and makes little progress on high ground. There are three and often four dark-green needles per fascicle: they are fourteen inches long, are the broadest of all pine needles, and grow densely on the young shoots. The branches are covered by a rough, deeply-fissured bark which detracts much from the beauty of this tree. It is the most delicate known species of pine and must be protected from frost until it is full grown: however, since this is difficult in the low, damp areas necessary to this pine, it is advisable to keep the tree boxed until it can tolerate the cold.

Five-leaved pines.

20. White, or Lord Weymouth pine. [25] This pine is widespread in Canada, New England, Virginia, Carolina, and other parts of North America, where it is called the white pine. It is especially common in damp, light soils in which it thrives, often growing to over one hundred feet. The stem is straight and the crown is naturally conic. The bark is smooth and even: it is green-brown on the young shoots and whitish on the main stem and branches. There are five needles per fascicle: they are about three inches long and of a beautiful, sea green; they grow densely on the young shoots and also grow on the other branches. The male flowers or catkins, which are initially quite white, become violet. The cones have one-inch stalks and are about four inches long by eight lines broad. The scales are thin, pliable, and detached at their tips, which makes them bear some resemblance to those of the fir. The edible pignons, which are quite large, are dispersed if the cones are not picked early in autumn. This pine is ramose and has a dense foliage of a beautiful green, making it the most suitable species for ornamental plantations. The white wood is full of a fluid, transparent resin which flows quite abundantly from incisions made in the stem. The wood can be sawn into deal but is too gnarled to be used for masts. [26]

21. The ‘pinaster’, or ‘alviez’ in Briançon, which botanists have also named the ‘cembro’ pine. [27] It is commonly found on the Alps, where it thrives in cold sites which are covered with snow for most of the year. It has a straight stem and a dense, round crown. It usually has five needles per fascicle, sometimes four, and less commonly six: they are stiff, thick, among the broadest, and about 4½ inches long. The short, obtuse cones are three inches long by almost two inches wide. [28] The scales overlap like those of fir cones. The pignons which they enclose are almost triangular: they are easy to husk but are smaller than those of the stone pine. The pine kernels are sweet and palatable: they have the same uses as hazelnuts and are added to casseroles. This tree is tall and striking, and its needles are of a pleasant green.

In general, pines are propagated only from seed sown in the manner described for the black or stone pine, depending on the size of the seeds.

The pine is one of the most profitable trees due to its many different uses, which are of great benefit to society. Its appeal is heightened by the fact that most pines can spring up and thrive almost anywhere, even in sites which no other tree can tolerate. It cannot be sufficiently emphasized that most pines require no cultivation or rather that cultivation is detrimental to them, that they can tolerate extremes of temperature, drought, and humidity, that they can withstand violent winds and salt-laden mists more readily than any other tree, and that they thrive on high, uncultivated, abandoned land, in poor, sterile, superficial soil, in clay, sand, chalk, scree, and even rocks. This tree grows vigorously, especially in suitable soil: after ten years, vine props may be made from it, and after fifteen or eighteen years it can be cut back for fuel. Moreover, if it is barked and left to dry for two years, it will lose nearly all of its unpleasant smell. These trees are full grown at sixty or eighty years of age: imagine the profit which might be drawn from this tree for society’s different needs were it to be sown in a great number of sterile, abandoned places which even bushes cannot tolerate, and which stand useless and neglected! However, the pine is still unknown to several provinces of the kingdom: in Burgundy it may be found only in the single locality of Montbard, where a small wood of black pine was planted twenty years ago.

Pinewood is more or less resinous according to the species, but is excellent for use in all crafts and extremely durable and serviceable. It is used in carpentry, joinery, shipbuilding, and for making deal, the main body of a pump, and water pipes. It also makes good firewood, while its charcoal is sought after for working mines, and it is claimed that pine bark can be used for tanning leather. However, pinewood may be put to equally beneficial use while it is still standing: in addition to a few pines which have edible seeds, all pines secrete a greater or lesser quantity of resin, which may be tapped in various ways and used to make hot or cold pitch, tar, yellow or white resin, turpentine, lampblack, etc. One may begin to tap this resin when the trees are twenty-five or thirty years of age, and continue for thirty more years if one taps the trees judiciously, following which the wood may still be used in carpentry.

Pines are also of ornamental interest: they retain their leaves, which in most species are of a pleasant green. These trees are of fine stature and consistent growth, and are not subject to attack by pests or prone to disease. Lastly, several pines are very striking in spring when they are laden with brightly-coloured catkins. The reader may consult Miller’s The Gardener’s Dictionary on the cultivation of the pine, and M. Duhamel’s treatise on trees for some interesting general observations on this tree. [29]

Notes

1. There are approximately 93 species of pine. See D. J. Mabberley, The Plant-book: a Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants (Cambridge, 1997), 558.

2. Pinus is divided into three subgenera - Strobus, Ducampopinus, and Pinus - which may in time assume the status of separate genera. The length and number of leaves per fascicle are still considered to be of some use in the identification of species, but they are now recognized to be primarily linked to climatic conditions (Huxley et al., 1992, iii, p. 584). The term ‘per fascicle’ will henceforth be substituted for ‘the number of leaves emanating from a common basal sheath’.

3. This is Pinus nigra, and will henceforth be referred to as the black pine.

4. The ‘swellings’ are the apophysis and umbo of a cone scale; these terms will be substituted for ‘swelling’ in the text.

5. There are remnants of Pinus sylvestris, or native Scots pine, in the old Caledonian forests of Scotland, which were cleared in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for grazing. The lowland pines, which have longer needles, are escapes from Europe. Scots pine timber is one of the hardest pine woods, and is used for making sleepers and telegraph poles (Mabey, 1996, p. 21). See D. J. Mabberley, The Plant-book: a Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants (Cambridge, 1997), 559.

6. Pinus pinea, which will henceforth be referred to as the stone or umbrella pine.

7. This is the ‘umbrella’ or domed crown of the umbrella pine (Huxley et al., 1992, iii.591).

8. The Jardin du Roi, or Jardin Royal des Plantes Médicinales, was founded in 1626 by Louis XIII’s physician, Guy de La Brosse. In 1718 it was renamed the Jardin Royal des Plantes, reflecting its evolution from a medicinal to a scientific garden. Since the French Revolution, the garden has been known as the Jardin des Plantes (article ‘Jardin des Plantes’, Woodbridge, in Jellicoe et al., 1991, p. 299).

9. The cones of Pinus mugo are ovoid to conic (Huxley et al., 1992, iii.589).

10. This may be Pinus mugo variety pumilio. The Forest of Haguenot is north of Strasbourg (Harris, pers. comm.; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1995, v.616).

11. Pinus pinaster.

12. This may be Pinus pinaster forma minor (Harris, pers. comm.).

13. This may be Pinus leucodermis (ibid.).

14. See article Norway Spruce.

15. This description and the following refer to cultivars of Pinus sylvestris, the native Scots pine (Harris, pers. comm.).

16. Pinus banksiana, the Jack pine.

17. Pinus halepensis.

18. The cones of the Aleppo pine are oblong-conic (Huxley et al., 1992, iii.588).

19. The seeds of this kind will keep good for some years, when taken out of the cones. I have sown of these seeds when three years old, which grew as well as any new seeds of the same year; and the plants came up in a bed of common earth without trouble’ (article ‘ Pinus ’, Miller, 1752).

20. Pinus echinata, the short-leaf pine, of which each cone scale has a diamond-shaped apophysis and an umbo with a small, sharp thorn (Huxley et al., 1992, iii.587).

21. Pinus virginiana.

22. Duhamel du Monceau, 1755.

23. Pinus rigida, also known as pitch, or northen pitch pine.

24. Pinus palustris, the longleaf, or southern yellow pine, of which the furrowed bark is shed in thin plates (Huxley et al., 1992, ii.590).

25. Pinus strobus, the white, or Weymouth pine, so-named because there were several large specimens growing on the estate of Sir Thomas Thynne, first Viscount Weymouth (1640-1714) at Longleat. The tree was introduced into England in 1705 (article ‘Pinus’, Miller, 1752; article ‘Thynne, Thomas’, Gerald Grys Norgate, in Stephen and Lee, 1885-1900).

26. Cf. article ‘ Pinus ’, Miller, 1768: ‘As the wood of this tree was generally thought of great service to the navy, there was a law made in the ninth year of Queen Anne for the preservation of the trees, and to encourage their growth in America’.

27. Pinus cembra, the Swiss or Arolla pine. Pinus pinaster is the maritime pine.

28. The cones of Pinus cembra are obtuse-ovate (Huxley et al., 1992, iii.586).

29. Article ‘ Pinus ’. Miller, 1752; Duhamel du Monceau, 1755.