Scientific name: Pinus tabuliformis Carrière 1867
Synonyms: Pinus leucosperma Maxim., Pinus sinensis Mayr, Pinus taihangshanensis Hu & T.Y.Yao, Pinus tokunagae Nakai, Pinus wilsonii Shaw
Common names:Chinese red pine, Chinese pine, You song (Chinese)
Description
Tree to 25 m tall, with trunk to 0.8(-1.2) m in diameter. Bark dark grayish brown with reddish highlights, thin, passing from narrow ridges above to progressively larger, scaly plates lower down. Crown very broadly dome-shaped, or flat (hence the scientific name, Latin for “table-shaped”), with upwardly angled, long, heavy branches bearing thinner, downswept ones modestly clothed with foliage at the tips. Twigs coarse, yellowish brown to reddish brown, sometimes waxy, hairless, somewhat rough with the bases of scale leaves. Buds 12-18 mm long, slightly resinous. Needles in bundles of two (or three), each needle (6-)10-15 cm long, stiff or flexible, straight, lasting 2-3 years, bright green to dark green. Individual needles with inconspicuous lines of stomates on both the inner and outer faces, a two-stranded midvein, and (2-)5-9(-10) resin canals all around the periphery usually touching the surface. Sheath 10-20 mm long, weathering to 5-10 mm and persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones in a short grouping, 5-10 mm long, yellowish brown. Seed cones 2.5-9 cm long, broadly egg-shaped, with 50-80 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening shiny yellowish brown to brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then persisting several years before falling with the short, slender stalk to 1 cm long. Seed scales paddle-shaped, the exposed face roughly horizontally diamond-shaped, a little to prominently protruding, crossed by a horizontal ridge topped by a large diamond-shaped umbo bearing a short, thick spine. Seed body 6-8 mm long, the easily detachable wing another 10-15 mm longer.
Widely distributed across the hills and mountains of central China from central Qinghai and northern Sichuan east to Shandong and Jilin and adjacent Korea. Forming pure open or closed stands or mixed with other conifers and hardwoods in forests and woodlands on various substrates; (50-)1,000-2,500(-3,000) m.
Conservation Status
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
(Despite the rarity and possible threat to one of its varieties, the species as a whole is so widespread and common that there is no threat to it and is therefore assessed as 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.
