PINUS L. Pine by Stanley L
PINAS Pinaceae-Pine family PINUS L. Pine by Stanley L. Krugman 1 and James L. Jenkinson 2 Growth habit, occurrence, and use.-The ge- Zealand; P. canariensis in North Africa and nus Pinus, one of the largest and most important South Africa; P. cari.bea in South Africa and of the coniferous genera, comprises about 95 Australia; P. halepereszs in South America; P. species and numerous varieties and hybrids. muricata in New Zealand and Australia; P. Pines are widely distributed, mostly in the sgluestris, P, strobus, P. contorta, and P. ni'gra Northern Hemisphere from sea level (Pi'nus in Europe; P. merkusii in Borneo and Java 128, contorta var. contorta) to timberline (P. albi- 152, 169, 266). cantl;i,s). They range from Alaska to Nicaragua, The pines are evergreen trees of various from Scandinavia to North Africa. and from heights,-often very tall but occasionally shrubby Siberia to Sumatra. Some species, such as P. (table 3). Some species, such as P.lnmbertionn, syluestris, are widely distributed-from Scot- P. monticola, P. ponderosa, antd. P. strobtr's, grow land to Siberia-while other species have re- to more than 200 feet tall, while others, as P. stricted natural ranges. Pinus canariensis, for cembroides and P. Ttumila, may not exceed 30 example, is found naturally only on the Canary feet at maturity. Islands, and P. torreyana numbers only a few Pines provide some of the most valuable tim- thousand individuals in two California localities ber and are also widely used to protect water- (table 1) (4e). sheds, to provide habitats for wildlife, and to Forty-one species of pines are native to the construct shelterbelts.
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