Masson's Pine
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| Pinus massoniana Lamb. |
Masson's Pine (Pinus massoniana; also known as Chinese Red Pine or Horsetail Pine) is a species of pine, native to a wide area of central and southern China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, growing at low to moderate altitudes, mostly below 1,500 m but rarely up to 2,000 m altitude.[1]
It is an evergreen tree reaching 25-45 m in height, with a broad, rounded crown of long branches. The bark is thick, greyish-brown, and scaly plated at the base of the trunk, and orange-red, thin, and flaking higher on the trunk. The leaves are needle-like, dark green, with two per fascicle, 12-20 cm long and 0.8-1 mm wide, the persistent fascicle sheath 1.5-2 cm long. The cones are ovoid, 4-7 cm long, chestnut-brown, opening when mature in late winter to 4-6 cm broad. The seeds are winged, 4-6 mm long with a 10-15 mm wing. Pollination is in mid spring, with the cones maturing 18-20 months after.[2][3][4]
[edit] Cultivation and uses
The species is a common trees in plantation forestry for replacing or compensating of the loss of the natural forest in southern China.[5]. Chinese rosin is obtained mainly from the turpentine of this Pine (Pinus massoniana) and Slash Pine (P. elliottii).
[edit] Pests
The Pinewood Nematode from North America and Pine-needle Scale Insect from Taiwan, have together virtually eliminated the native Pinus massoniana in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 80s.[6]
[edit] References and external links
- ^ Mirov, N. T. (1967). The Genus Pinus. Ronald Press.
- ^ Farjon, A. (2005). Pines, ed. 2. Brill, Leiden. ISBN 90-04-13916-8.
- ^ Richardson, D. M. (1998). Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-55176-5.
- ^ Gymnosperm Database: Pinus massoniana
- ^ Ecosystem services of various types of artificial forest in South China – a provisional summary
- ^ Porcupine! 23 - Hong Kong's Bad Biodviersity
- Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Pinus massoniana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 December 2006.
- Pinus massoniana - Plants For A Future database report
