Scientific name: Pinus pinaster W.Aiton 1789
Synonyms: Pinus corteana Beissn., Pinus detritis Carrière, Pinus glomerata Salisb., Pinus helenica K.Koch, Pinus lemoniana Benth., Pinus maritima Lam., Pinus minor Loudon, Pinus monspeliensis Salzm. ex Duval-Jouve, Pinus neglecta H.Low ex Gordon, Pinus nigrescens Ten., Pinus nova-zelandica Lodd. ex G.Don, Pinus sancta-helenica Loudon ex Carrière, Pinus scarina Steud., Pinus syrtica Thore
Common names: Maritime pine, Cluster pine, Pino resinero, Pino marítimo (Spanish), Pinheiro-bravo (Portugese)
Description
Tree to 25(-40) m tall, with trunk to 1(-1.5) m. Bark bright reddish brown thick, becoming deeply fissured between irregularly platelike, scaly ridges. Crown dome-shaped or flattened, becoming open with age, with upwardly angled branches densely clothed with foliage at the ends. Twigs reddish brown, hairless, somewhat rough with the bases of scale leaves. Buds 20-35 mm long, not resinous. Needles in bundles of two, 10-25 cm long, thick, stiff, and prickly, lasting 2(-3) years, shiny bright green. Individual needles with prominent lines of stomates on both faces, and 2-9(-15) resin canals at the corners and surrounding the two-stranded midvein midway between it and the needle surface. Sheath 20-30 mm long, persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones about 1 cm long, pale yellowish brown. Seed cones clustered, (8-)9-18(-22) cm long, egg-shaped, slightly asymmetrical, with 120-150 scales, green before maturity, ripening glossy light brown, remaining closed for several years before opening and falling with the short stalk exceptionally to 15-20 mm long. Seed scales paddle-shaped, the exposed face diamond-shaped, with a pyramidal protrusion crossed by a ridge topped by a prominent umbo with a sharp, stout, short spine. Seed body 7-8 mm long, the clasping wing another 20-30 mm longer.
Western Mediterranean in southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa, from northwestern Italy and Pantelleria Island (between Sicily and Tunisia) west to southwestern France, Portugal, and central Morocco. Forming pure, open stands or mixed with other trees on sand dunes and other substrates in coastal lowlands and at moderate elevations in the interior of Corsica, the Iberian Peninsula, and Morocco; 0-1,000(-2,000) m.
Conservation Status
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
(In many parts of its European range, Pinus pinaster is on the increase. This is partly due to naturalization from extensive plantations within its natural range. Within its range in North Africa, many subpopulations are in decline and P. pinaster subsp. renoui has been assessed as Endangered. However, as the North African subpopulations constitute a relatively small proportion of the global population, the overall assessment for the species is Least Concern)
References
Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland
Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.
