Pinus

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Pinus

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Description

Evergreen monoecious trees or rarely shrubs. Bark smooth or rough, particularly on older trees, peeling in flakes often of very irregular shape. Leaves linear or lanceolate, often with minute serrations, spirally placed, soon replaced by scales in the axils of which appear reduced shoots in the form of bundles enclosed around their base by a sheath of scale leaves, adult leaves in the bundles linear, pungent, needle-like, the cross section of each leaf forming a sector of the circle formed by the entire bundle. Seed egg-shaped, with a firm outer shell, usually with an expanded wing which is attached to the broad base of the seed.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical, Himalayan range present, Hispaniola present, Southern America: Cuba (Cuba present), middle and higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere present, southeastern Asia present
Over one hundred species across the middle and higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere and southward into Central America, Cuba, and Hispaniola as well as into Malesia, where two important pines of southeastern Asia (belonging to subg. Diploxylori) extend their range. Absent from the Indian subcontinent, but occurring throughout the Himalayan range.

Notes

Pines are leading sources of lumber and pulpwood and some species such as the two described here yield large amounts of pitch and are tapped to make turpentine. Use as ornamentals is widespread and pines are favourite subjects of afforestation. The widespread use of pines in tropical tree plantations derives from the detailed information available for their silviculture and not because they are of particularly good quality wood. The fact is that much tropical pine wood production is of very poor quality and it is to be hoped that knowledge of the production of better quality woods will increase in the future.

Citation

PARL. 1868 – In: DC., Prod. 16: 378
SHAW 1914: p. 24. – In: Publ. Arn. Arb.: t. 1-39
LINN. 1753: Sp. Pl.: 1000
SILBA 1986 – In: Phytologia Mem.: 129
MASTERS 1904 – In: J. Linn. Soc.: 560
GAUSSEN 1960: p. 11. – In: Gymn. Act. & Foss.: t. 324-369, pl. 24-29
PILGER 1926: p. 331. – In: E. & P., Nat. Pfl. Fam., ed. 2, 13: t. 177, 178
MIROV 1967: Genus Pinus
ENGELMANN 1880 – In: Trans. St.Louis Acad. Sc.: 161
LAMBERT 1803: Pinus