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A pine is a coniferous tree of the genus Pinus, in the Family Pinaceae. There are about 115 species of Pinus, although different authors accept anything between about 105 to 125 species. Pine trees are resinous and evergreen. They have scale leaves that are soon lost and replaced by needles bundled in clusters of (1) 2 to 5 needles each. Pines are monoecious: having male and female cones on the same tree. Female cones take 2-3 years to mature after arrival of the male pollen grain, with actual fertilization delayed one year.

Pines are native to most of North America, ranging from the Arctic to Mexico and Nicaragua and the West Indies. They occur naturally in Eurasia, ranging from Spain and Scotland east to the Russian Far East, Japan, and the Philippines, and south to northernmost Africa, the Himalaya and Southeast Asia, with one species just crossing the Equator in Sumatra. They are also extensively planted in many parts of the Southern hemisphere.

Pines grow well in acid soils, some also on calcareous soils. A few are able to sprout after forest fires. Some species of pines need fire to germinate and their populations suffer under fire suppression regimes. Several species are adapted to extreme conditions imposed by elevation and latitude (see Whitebark pine and Bristlecone pine).

Pines are commercially among the most important of species used for timber in temperate and tropical regions of the world. The seeds are commonly eaten by birds and squirrels, though some birds, notably the Nutcracker, Clark's Nutcracker and Pinyon Jay are of importance in distributing pine seeds to new areas where they can grow. The seeds of some species — called "pine nuts "— are sold commercially for cooking and baking. The resin of some species is important as the source of turpentine.

Pinus radiata and other common pine species are often grown commercially as a source of wood pulp for papermaking. This is because they are fast-growing softwoods that can be planted in relatively dense stands, and because their resinous needles inhibit the growth of other plants (e.g. weeds) in the cropping areas. 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.

List of pines (under construction)

North American pine species:

• Apache pine - Pinus engelmannii
• Arizona pine - P. arizonica
• Bishop pine - P. muricata
• Bristlecone pine - 2 species, P. aristata, P. longaeva
• Chihuahua pine - P. leiophylla
• Coulter pine - P. coulteri
• Eastern white pine - P. strobus
• Foxtail pine - P. balfouriana
• Gray pine, Foothill pine or Digger pine, P. sabineana
• Jack pine - P. banksiana
• Jeffrey pine - P. jeffreyi
• Knobcone pine - P. attenuata
• Limber pine - P. flexilis
• Loblolly pine - P. taeda
• Lodgepole pine - P. contorta
• Longleaf pine - P. palustris
• Monterey pine - P. radiata
• Piñon pine - also as Pinyon pine; 6 species in USA, 2 more in Mexico
• Pitch pine - P. rigida
• Pond pine - P. serotina
• Ponderosa pine - P. ponderosa, including P. washoensis
• Red pine - P. resinosa
• Sand pine - P. clausa
• Shortleaf pine - P. echinata
• Slash pine - P. elliottii
• Southwestern white pine - P. strobiformis
• Spruce pine - P. glabra
• Sugar pine - P. lambertiana
• Table Mountain pine - P. pungens
• Torrey pine - P. torreyana
• Virginia pine - P. virginiana
• Western white pine - P. monticola
• Whitebark pine - P. albicaulis

Many more species occur in Mexico south of the US border

European Pine species:

• Aleppo pine - P. halepensis
• European black pine or Austrian pine - P. nigra
• Bosnian pine - P. heldreichii
• Canary Island pine - P. canariensis
• Mountain pine - P. mugo
• Macedonian pine - P. peuce
• Maritime pine - P. pinaster
• Scots pine - P. sylvestris
• Stone pine - P. pinea
• Swiss pine - P. cembra
• Turkish pine - P. brutia

Many more species occur in Asia.

References

• Richardson, D. M. (ed.). 1998. Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 530 p. ISBN 0 521 55176 5.
• Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The Plant Book. A portable dictionary of the higher plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 706 p. ISBN 0 521 34060 8.

External links

• Classification of pines
• Arboretum de Villardebelle Images of cones of selected species
• Gymnosperm Database - Pinus
• Gymnosperm families - scroll down to the Pinaceae

See also: Pine email client.