THE shortleaf pine, sometimes called yellow pine, occurs in very small
stands in the "Pine Hills" of Union County, in Jackson County, in Giant
City State Park, and near "Piney Creek" in Randolph County. It forms
forests on light sandy soils in Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
At maturity, the tree has a tall, straight stem and an oval crown,
reaching a height of about 100 feet and a diameter of about 4 feet.
The _leaves_ are in clusters of two or three, from 3 to 5 inches long,
slender, flexible, and dark blue-green. The cones are the smallest of
our pines, 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches long, oblong, with small sharp prickles,
generally clustered, and often holding to the twigs for 3 or 4 years.
The _bark_ is light brownish-red, broken into rectangular plates on the
trunk but scaly on the branches.
The _wood_ of old trees is rather heavy and hard, of yellow-brown or
orange color, fine grained and less resinous than that of other
important southern pines. It is used largely for interior and exterior
finishing, general construction, veneers, paper pulp, excelsior,
cooperage, mine props, and other purposes. The tree transplants readily,
grows rapidly, succeeds on a variety of soils and has proved valuable
for reforestation.
A few trees of jack pine, _Pinus banksiana_ Lamb., are found
in Lake County. It is a small northern tree with leaves about
an inch long, borne in 2's, with cones about 2 inches long. It
is planted for reforestation in the State. The Scots pine,
_Pinus sylvestris_ L., has been freely planted in Illinois and
may be known by its orange-brown bark and its twisted leaves 2
to 3 inches long, arranged in 2's. It has become naturalized
on the sand dunes in Lake County.
The Norway spruce, _Picea abies_ Karst., has been freely
planted throughout the State. It forms a dense conical
spire-topped crown and reaches a height of 50 to 70 feet. The
leaves are needle-shaped, about an inch long, dark green, and
persist for about 5 years. The pendulous cones are from 3 to 6
inches long. It is desirable for ornamental planting.
+BALD CYPRESS+ _Taxodium distichum_ Richard
[Illustration: CYPRESS