thorns will not be objectionable, in background of border plantings,
and as a base plant for pattern effects on buildings. Trees are some-
times attacked by scales and a disease called mushroom root-rot.


 Persea americana. Lauraceae. Avocado or Alligator Pear. South-
ern area and warmer parts of Central area. Evergreen. Tropical
America.
 At maturity, avocado is a round-headed tree, growing to a height
of 60 feet. Evergreen, elliptical, asymmetrical leaves are arranged
in 5 spiral rows clustered and drooping from tips of twigs. Leaves
are about 6 inches long and a third to half as wide, and covered with
oil or macilage glands. Flowers are small, greenish and appear in
close terminal panicles.
 Avocado is planted mainly for its dark green or purplish edible
tropical fruit, but is also useful as an ornamental for its glossy light
to medium green foliage. A well-drained, fertile soil is essential for
satisfactory growth. This tree is used mainly as a fruiting specimen
on the home grounds and for its tropical effect. Primary pests are
white fly, scales and a number of fruit and leaf-spotting fungus
diseases.


 Pinus spp. Pinaceae. Pine. Southern, Central and Northern
areas. Evergreen. Native.
 Florida has 7 native pine species that are utilized extensively on
 new building sites where they may already be growing. Large trees
 are difficult to transplant but seedlings may be moved with little loss.
 Many nurseries carry container-grown pines which can be easily
 transplanted. Since there are few or no satisfactory substitutes for
 pines, they are well worth considering in many types of plantings and
 particularly where older standing trees may be preserved. There are
 4 species of pine worthy of landscape use in Florida.
 Slash pine, Pinus elliotti, is a fast growing pine that reaches a
 height of 90 feet. Old trees form a branched, irregular, conical to
 round crown. There are 2 to 3 needles, 7 to 12 inches long, grouped
 in a sheath, and buds or new shoots are slender, glossy golden brown
 with white-fringed scales.
 The second most common large pine is longleaf, Pinus palustris.
 This pine grows to a height of 120 feet, and old trees have tall clean
 trunks and open, irregular tops with a few stout branches. There are
 3 needles, 8 to 15 inches long per sheath, and buds or new shoots are
 heavy, thick and silvery-white. Longleaf pine grows from Lake
 Okeechobee north.
 Spruce pine, Pinus glabra, also called cedar pine, grows to 100
 feet tall. This pine is found growing in rich hammocks and swamps
 from Alachua County, north and westward. There are 2 soft, slender,