Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • TREES OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. By W. W. Ashe and H. B. Ayres. The following is a list of the trees growing in the Southern Appalachians, with notes concerning their distribution, size, uses, and reproduction. Accompanying this is a list of shrubs indigenous to that region. White Pine {Pinus strobus) reaches a height of 160 feet and a diameter of 40 inches and forms nearly pure groves, or is associated with smaller hard woods. It prefers sandy or gravelly soils on northwest slopes lying between 1,700 and 4,000 feet elevation. It is the most important timber tree in the Eastern States, for its wood is light, strong, and durable, and is applied to nearly all uses. It makes rapid growth and reproduces freely. It is most abundant, attains its maximum size, and makes most rapid accretion on the western slopes of the Smoky and Iron mountains, especially in Shady Valley. Loblolly Pine {Pinus taeda) in the Appalachians reaches a height of 80 feet and a diameter of 30 inches, and is found only in the southernmost part of the area, below an elevation of 1,200 feet. It occurs chiefly as a second growth in old fields, and is of great value in restocking them and preventing erosion. Nearer the coast it is a timber tree of the first importance. Shortleaf Pine {Pinus echinata), reaching a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 36 inches, is frequent on well-drained soil below 2,000 feet elevation, becoming more common as the altitude decreases. The wood is yellow, strong, and very durable, and takes a fine finish. It seeds freely and reproduces abundantly under full light, often restocking old fields and waste places. It is one of the most valuable of the yellow pines, and forms the chief building material over much of this region. Black Pine {Pinus rigida) reaches a height of 90 feet and a diameter of 28 inches. It is associated with the shortleaf pine, but it is the more abundant at higher elevations. Like that tree, it seeds freely and often, and restocks waste lands. It is not so large nor so valuable a tree, however, and the wood is coarser, more resinous, and not so free from knots. It is much used as a building material. 93
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