Pine Furniture
Pines are coniferous trees of the genus Pinus, in the family Pinaceae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authors accept anything from 105 to 125 species.
Pines are evergreen and resinous. The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaking bark. The branches are produced in regular "pseudo whorls", actually a very tight spiral but appearing like a ring of branches arising from the same point. Many pines are uninodal, producing just one such whorl of branches each year, from buds at the tip of the year's new shoot, but others are multimodal, producing two or more whorls of branches per year. The spiral growth of branches, needles and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The new spring shoots are sometimes called "candles"; they are light-coloured and point upward at first, then later darken and spread outward. These "candles" offer foresters a means to evaluate fertility of the soil and vigour of the trees.
Principal Uses:
Pine's many uses include pinefurniture, flooring, lumber, plywood, poles, pulp, paper, Christmas trees, and pine straw.
Pines are commercially among the most important of species used for timber in temperate and tropical regions of the world. Many are grown as a source of wood pulp for paper manufacture. This is because they are fast-growing softwoods that can be planted in relatively dense stands, and because their acidic decaying needles may inhibit the growth of other competing plants in the cropping areas. A typical example is Pinus radiata. The resin of some species is important as the source of turpentine. Some species have large seeds, called pine nuts, which are harvested and sold for cooking and baking. Some pines are used for Christmas trees, and pine cones are also widely used for Christmas decorations. Many pines are also very attractive ornamental trees planted in parks and large gardens.
Many types of pine wood are relatively affordable and easily available, from very knotty to totally clear. For these reasons, pine is used extensively in all areas of woodworking, cabinets, scrollsaw & craft work, folk art and even wood turning for table legs. It can be made into furniture, lumber, flooring and wall panelling. The native Indians used it for totem poles, today much of the lower grade material goes into pulp & paper and animal bedding, reserving the high grades for lumber.
Further Pine Wood Details
Pine plantations can be at risk of fire damage because pine resin is flammable to the point of a tree being explosive under some conditions. Pine trees are also famous for their pleasant smell, but some people find the smell overbearing. A very small number of people are allergic to pine resin and its scent can trigger an asthma attack. What makes this particularly unusual is that it is also a treatment for asthma in some forms of alternative medicine.
Pine (tree), common name for a medium-size family of trees, mostly evergreen, of widespread distribution in the temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, and for its representative genus. This family of trees has enormous economic importance as a source of timber and pulpwood, among other products. Members of the family characteristically have helically arranged needle like leaves. In several genera-for example, pine, cedar, and larch-the leaves are borne in clusters that are actually short branches, or spurs, on which the leaves are arranged in tight helices.
The members of the pine family have separate female and male cones; the former produce the seeds, and the latter, the pollen. Male and female cones are produced on the same plant; the seed-bearing cones are woody when mature; the seeds are winged. The family is distinguished from other conifers on the basis of its seed cones. Each of the flattened scales on which the seeds are borne is under laid by a distinct, sterile bract (reduced leaf) that is usually shorter than the scale. The seed cones are drooping in all members of the family except the fir and a small genus confined to South China and Southeast Asia. All members of the family have evergreen leaves except the golden larch and the larch.
The pine genus itself is the largest in the family, with about 110 species, about 35 of which are in North America. Pines grow in a wide range of habitats, from sea level to altitudes of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) and are distinguished from other members of the family by the leaves, which are in bundles. Each bundle contains a specific number of leaves, depending on the species, with a sheath of short, scale like leaves at the base.
Pines are divided into two groups, based on the scale leaves and other characteristics. The soft pines have leaves in bundles of five, and the scale leaves fall away from mature leaf bundles. Their wood is soft and has a coarse grain. Well-known soft pines are the eastern white pine, of north eastern North America; piñon pine, of the Southwest, the seeds of which are edible; bristlecone pine, the Rocky Mountain species; and the Great Basin bristlecone, which can live more than 4,000 years and is one of the oldest known living things on the planet. Through analysis of bristlecone rings, scientists can tell what the climate was more than 10,000 years ago. The hard pines have leaves in clusters of two or three, and the scale leaves persist in mature clusters. The wood is usually hard, with a close grain. Well-known species include lodgepole pine, extending from Alaska to Baja California; longleaf pine, of the south eastern coastal plain; and ponderosa pine, of the American West. Both pine groups are economically important for their timber, pulp, tar, and turpentine and for their use as furniture and ornamentals. Members of a pine family thought to be extinct for 50 million years were discovered in a rain forest near Sydney, Australia, in 1994. Other members of the pine family include Douglas fir, hemlock, and spruce.