Pinus thunbergii

Scientific name: Pinus thunbergii  Parlatore  1868

Synonyms: Pinus massoniana Siebold & Zucc., Pinus sylvestris Thunb., Pinus thunbergiana Franco

Common names: Japanese black pine, Kuromatsu (Japanese)

Description

Tree to 30(-35) m tall, with trunk to 1(-2) m in diameter. Bark dark gray with reddish gray flakes, divided into flat, irregularly polygonal plates by narrow, black furrows. Crown broadly conical at first, becoming flat-topped, irregular, and open with age, with slender horizontal to shallowly upwardly angled branches densely clothed with foliage near the ends. Twigs yellowish brown, hairless, rough with the bases of scale leaves. Buds white, (1-)1.5-2.5(-4) cm long, not resinous. Needles in bundles of two (or three), each needle (6-)9-12(-15) cm long, stiff and straight, lasting 3(-4) years, dark green. Individual needles with inconspicuous lines of stomates on both the inner and outer faces and (2-)4-10(-11) resin canals all around the two-stranded midvein midway out to the needle surface. Sheath 6-10 mm long, weathering to 4-6 mm long and persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones densely crowded, 10-13 mm long, yellowish brown. Seed cones 4.5-6 cm long, egg-shaped to almost spherical, with (40-)50-60(-80) seed scales, grayish green before maturity, ripening yellowish brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then falling along with the short stalk to about 1 cm long. Seed scales variably spoon-shaped, the exposed face horizontally diamond-shaped to five-sided, almost flat, crossed by a ridge topped by a flat umbo bearing a tiny, fragile or persistent prickle. Seed body 3.5-6(-8) mm long, the easily detachable wing another 10-15 mm longer.

Coastal region of southern Korea and of Japan from the northern tip of Honshū south to Takara Jima south of Kyūshū. Forming pure, open stands or mixed with other trees near the seashore on sandy or rocky soils; 0-300(-1,000) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(This species is widespread and very common in Japan and coastal parts of South Korea 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.