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It seems to be fully aware of its high rank, and waves with the grace and solemn majesty of a mountain pine. I wish I could place one of these regal clumps among the grass settlements of our prairies in the West. Surely every panicle would wave and bow in joyous allegiance and acknowledge their King. 30th. Between Thomson and Augusta found many new and beautiful grasses – tall Gerardias, club mosses, Liatris, etc. Here, too, is the north limit of the remarkably long-leafed pine, a tree sixty or seventy feet in height, twenty or thirty inches diameter, leaves from ten to fifteen inches in length in dense radiant masses at the ends of the naked branches. The wood is strong and hard and makes excellent ship spars, bridge timbers, and flooring. The seedlings, five or six years old, are very striking objects to one from the north, consisting as they do of a straight leafless [Drawing –“Young specimen of (pinus Australia) long-leafed pine – Georgia to Florida.” “I used to imagine that all pines were arrow-shaped like those of our picture books, but the pine is one of the most variable of trees and here is one that when young is like a palm and is used by children for brooms. Leaves are about a foot in length. When grown is about 70 ft. in height and 20 inches dia. Openly branched – leaves occurring only at the ends of the branches. Very resinous and makes hard flooring which is shipped to West India islands and New York and Galveston.”]
Date Original
July 1867
Source
Original journal dimensions: 10 x 16.5 cm.
Resource Identifier
MuirReel23Journal01P040.tif
Publisher
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Rights Management
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Keywords
John Muir, journals, drawings, writings, travel, journaling, naturalist
