Middle East Journal of Agriculture Volume : 07 | Issue : 04 | Oct.-Dec. | 2018 Research Pages:1688-1701 ISSN 2077-4605 Taxonomic revision of Piuus L. in Egypt Fatema S. Mohamed Flora and Phytotaxonomy Researches Department, Horticulture Research Institute, ARC., Giza, Egypt. Received: 20 Oct. 2018 / Accepted 10 Dec. 2018 / Publication date: 24 Dec. 2018 ABSTRACT This study includes taxonomic revision, documentation, description and distribution of Pinus species cultivated in Egypt. Fresh specimens were collected from three gardens; The Agricultural Museum, El-Orman and the Zoo Gardens. Seven species and one variety were collected, identified, described and compared with the specimens in the herbarium of Flora and Phytotaxonomy Researches Department (CAIM). Three new species and one variety were deposited in the herbarium namely; P. brutia Ten., P. brutia Ten. var. eldarica (Medw.) Silba., P. canariensis C. Smith and P. sylvestris L. Herbarium specimens were examined and photographed to help in establishing database information and to be available for the taxonomic researchers to further study of this genus. This study showed the importance of morphological traits for taxonomic evaluation among the studied taxa of Pinus in Egypt. Moreover a constructed key to Pinus species is provided. Keywords: Pinaceae, Pinus, Resinous trees, Coniferous Introduction The family Pinaceae is trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance contains 11 genera and 220 species (Farjon 1998). According to the characters of cone and seed, Pinaceae are divided into four subfamilies; Pinoideae, Piceoideae, Laricoideae and Abietoideae (Frankis 1989 and Farjon 1990). Among Coniferous the pines constitute by far the most important group regarding either from the point of view of number of species or that of economic value (Bean 1922). The true pines are evergreen resin- yielding trees belonging to the tribe Abietineae. Pines widely distributed in the northern hemisphere from the limit of tree growth on the plains of North America to the subtropical region of North Africa. Many pines yield timber of economic importance which is used for innumerable purposes. Several species yield an oleo- resin which by distillation produce turpentine and resin (Dallimore and Jackson1931). Pinus L. is the largest genus of gymnosperms including more than 110 species (Little & Critchfield, 1969; Farjon & Styles, 1997; Debreczy & Rácz, 2011). Pinus L. is composed of two subgenera, Strobus (D.Don) Lemmon and Pinus (Little & Critchfield, 1969; Gernandt et al., 2005), both of which have limited distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, except for one species of subgenus Pinus (Little & Critchfield, 1969; Farjon & Styles, 1997; Price et al., 1998; Debreczy & Rácz, 2011). Pinus L. appeared no later than the early Cretaceous, as indicated by the occurrences of P. belgica (Alvin 1960) and P. yorkshirensis (Ryberg et al., 2012) in deposits of this period. Fossil ovulate cones of Pinus are found abundantly in deposits younger than the early Cretaceous (Miki 1957, A xelrod 1986, Mai 1986 and Yamada et al., 2014). There have been many attempts to reconstruct the phylogeny of Pinaceae, including fossil Pinus spp., defined by their ovulate cone features (Smith & Stockey 2002,Gernandt et al., 2011, Ryberg et al., 2012 and Smith et al., 2017). Based on molecular phylogenetic analysis (Gernandt et al., 2005). Subgenus Strobus is subdivided into three sections Parrya Mayr, Quinquefoliae Duhamel and Trifoliae Duhamel. Section Mayr is composed of subsections Nelsoniae van den Burgh, Balfourianae Engelm. and Cembroides Engelm. Section Quinquefoliae Duhamel is composed of subsections Gerardianae Loud., Krempfianae Little & Critchfield and Strobus Loud. Subgenus Pinus is subdivided into section Pinus which is composed of subsections Pinaster Loud. and Pinus. Section Trifoliae Duhamel is composed of subsections Australes Loud., Ponderosae Loud. and Contortae Little & Critchfield. Corresponding Author: Fatema S. Mohamed, Flora and Phytotaxonomy Researches Department, Horticulture Research Institute, ARC., Giza, Egypt. E-mail: 1688 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 7(4): 1688-1701, 2018 ISSN: 2077-4605 The aim of this study was to carry out a taxonomic revision of genus Pinus L. in Egypt and construct a more recent identification key for the studied taxa. Materials and Methods The present study includes eight taxa of Pinus L. collected fresh from three gardens in Egypt as shown in (Table 1). The taxa were identified by means of comparison with authentic specimens kept in the herbarium of the Flora and Phytotaxonomy Research Department (CAIM) In addition to botanical keys of Bailey (1949), Zohary (1966), Davis (1975), Humphries (1981) and Thompson (1992). Table 1: The occurrence of studied taxa in the major gardens of Giza. Taxa El-Orman Garden Museum Garden Zoo Garden P. brutia Ten. + - - P. brutia Ten. var. eldarica (Medw.) Silba. + - - P. canariensis C. Smith + + + P. densiflora Sieb. & Zuce. - - - P. halepensis Miller + + - P. pinea L. + + + P. roxburghii Sarg. + + - P. sylvestris L. - + - + = Present, - = Absent The herbarium specimens were examined, photographed and kept in the herbarium of the Flora and Phytotaxonomy Research Department (CAIM). The morphological characters of collected specimens of studied taxa were studied. The relationship between the studied taxa has been analyzed using Average Linkage (Between Groups) of SPSS programme. Results I- Systematic position of Pinus L. in the system of A. Engler according to Melchior and Werdermann (1954). Kingdom: Plantae (Plants) Division: Gymnospermae Class: Coniferopsida Order: Coniferae Family: Pinaceae SubFamily: Pinoideae Genus: Pinus L. II- Systematic position of studied taxa in Pinus L. according to Farjon (1998). The studied taxa are belonging to two subsections as shown in Table (2). Table 2: Infrageneric classification of studied taxa in Pinus L. according to Farjon (1998). Subgenus Section Subsection Species Pinus P. sylvestris and P. densiflora Pinus Pinus Pinaster Mayr ex P. brutia, P. halepensis, P. canariensis, P. pinea and P. Koehne roxburghii 1689 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 7(4): 1688-1701, 2018 ISSN: 2077-4605 III- Description of the genus Pinus L. Sp. Pl 2:1000 (1753); Gen Pl. ed. 5. (1753); Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 434, (1754). Bailey 1949, p. 92; Zohary 1966, p. 54; Davis 1975, p. 71; Humphries 1981, p.74 ; Thompson 1992, p. 54.. Ever green tree. Winter buds covered with imbricate scales. Leaves of two kinds, the primary fascicles of 2- 5 surrounded at base by sheaths of bud scales. Staminate flowers axillary, clustered at base of young shoots, catkin- like yellow enlarged and scale- like at apex. Pistillate flower lateral or subterminal, greenish or purplish of numerous spirally arranged scales in the axils of small bracts, each bearing 2 ovules inside. Cones sub globose to cylindrical with woody imprecated persistent scales. The exposed part of scales called apophysis. The Plant List compiled by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts 126 species names of pines as current, together with 35 unresolved species and many more synonyms. IV- Key to the studied Pinus species: A- Leaves in fascicles of 3. B- Leaves 20- 30 cm long, seed 2 mm long, wing 15 x 4- 5 mm .2 P. canariensis BB- Leaves more than 30 cm long, seed 7- 8 mm long, 17-18 x 7-8 mm…… …….…………………………………………………………6.P. roxburghii AA- Leaves in fascicles of 2. C- Seed 2 cm, wing 4- 6 mm long…………………….………………………5 P. pinea CC- Seed shorter than 2 cm, wing longer than 6 mm D- Cones 3- 5 cm long, seed 3- 5 mm long. E- Leaves 2.5- 5 cm long……………………….………..7 P. sylvestris EE- Leaves 8- 12 cm long………….………………… 3 P. densiflora DD- Cones 6- 12 cm long, seed 7- 8 mm long. F- Branches twisted, bark smooth, silvery gray, leaves 6-12cm long……………………………………...…………...4 P. halepensis FF- Branch straight, bark deeply fissured, orange- red, leaves 10-16cm long……………………………………………….………1 P. brutia V- Description of the studied taxa: 1- P. brutia Ten., Prodr. Fl. Nap., 1:57 (1811);. Davis 1975, p. 74; Humphries 1981, p.84. Syn: P. pityusa Stev., In Bull. Soc. Nat. Masc. 1:49 (1838). Common name: Calabrian Pine or Turkish pine. Tree with straight trunk and branches up to 25 m. high. Comus diffuse. Bark orange-red. Twigs glabrous, usually reddish in the first year becoming grayish brown. Buds non- resinous, the scales recurved and fimbriate. Leaves 10- 16 cm long and 1- 1.5 mm wide, light green. Cones erect or ascending, 6–11 cm x 4–5 cm, oblong- conical, usually more than 2 borne together, scales with depression containing the umbo- peduncles very short whorled ascending oblong- conical. Seed 7–8 mm long, with a 15–20 mm wing mainly wind-dispersed. Distribution: Native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey, but it also extends to southeastern-most Bulgaria, the East Aegean Islands of Aegean Sea, Crete, the Crimea, Iran, Georgia, Azerbaijan, northern Iraq, western Syria, north-west Jordan, Lebanon, and Cyprus. Introduced from Syria to Egypt and cultivated in El- Orman garden. Specimens examined: El- Orman Garden, 29-12- 2016, Fatema Sami 301(CAIM). 1690 Middle East J. Agric. Res., 7(4): 1688-1701, 2018 ISSN: 2077-4605 P. brutia Ten. var. eldarica (Medw.) Silba., Phytologia 58: 267 (1985). .- Syn: P. eldarica Medw., Vestn. Tiflissk. Bot. Sada 6 (2): 21 (1903). The leaves slender, mostly 20-29 cm long, bright green to slightly yellowish green. The cones are stout, pendulous, heavy and hard. Distribution: Native to southern Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Endemic to Azerbaijan, the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot, occurring in Azerbaijan and Georgia. Introduced from Syria to Egypt and cultivated in El- Orman garden. Specimens examined: El- Orman Garden, 29-12- 2016, Fatema Sami 302 (CAIM). 2- P. canariensis C. Smith, Phys. Beschr. Canar. Ins. 159 (1828). Bailey 1949, p. 93; Humphries 1981, p.84. Common name: Canary Pine. Tree up to 80 feet. The trunk and branches with scattered short leafy branchlets. Bark reddish slightly fissured. Winter buds with reflexed white fringed scales.