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"P" is for Pines

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"P" is for Pines. Nine native pine species are found within South Carolina. Three species are restricted to the upper Piedmont and mountain regions, three are found nearly throughout the state, and three are found primarily within the coastal plain. South Carolina pines are divided into white and yellow. Yellow pines have needles in groups of two or three, while white pines have needles in groups of five. The only white pine in the state is the eastern white pine. Among the yellow pines are loblolly, slash, longleaf, Virginia, pitch, pond, table mountain, and spruce. Pines are extremely important economically and ecologically within South Carolina. More than 5,750,000 acres of state forestland contain pines. Pines form the basis of the timber industry in South Carolina and make up the number one cash crop in the state.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.