The _leaves_, or needles, are 3 to 5 inches in length, bluish-green on the upper surface and whitish beneath, and occur in bundles of 5, which distinguishes it from all other eastern pines. The pollen-bearing _flowers_ are yellow and clustered in cones, about 1/3 inch long at the base of the growth of the season. The seed-producing flowers occur on other twigs and are bright red in color. The cone, or _fruit_, is 4 to 6 inches long, cylindrical with thin usually very gummy scales, containing small, winged seeds which require two years to mature. The _wood_ is light, soft, durable, not strong, light brown in color, often tinged with red, and easily worked. It was formerly much used in old colonial houses where even the shingles were of white pine. It is excellent for boxes, pattern making, matches, and many other products. Its rapid growth and the high quality of the wood make it one of the best trees for reforestation on light soils in the northern part of the State. The white pine blister rust was introduced into America about 35 years ago, and has since become widespread and highly destructive of both old trees and young growth. The Austrian pine, _Pinus nigra_ Arnold, has been naturalized in Lake County and has been planted as an ornamental tree throughout the State. Its leaves in 2's, from 3 to 5 inches long, stiff and dark green. The cone is heavy, 3 inches long with short prickles. +SHORTLEAF PINE+ _Pinus echinata_ Mill. [Illustration: SHORTLEAF PINE Leaves, one-half natural size. Fruit, natural size.] 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.