Distribution of Pinus merkusii (solid color) and P. latteri (large enclosed region).

Line drawing; for full size image go to the Flora of China (Wu and Raven 1999).

Common Names

Tenasserim pine.

Taxonomic notes

Syn: P. ikedai Yamam.; P. tonkinensis A. Chev.; P. merkusii var. tonkinensis (A. Chev.) Gaussen ex N.-S. Bui; P. merkusii var. latteri (Mason) Silba; P. merkusii subsp. latteri (Mason) D. Z. Li; P. merkusiana Cooling & Gaussen, nom. inval.. Previously commonly treated as synonymous with P. merkusii Jungh. & De Vriese, but now treated as a distinct species (Farjon 1998).

Alliances to pines other than P. merkusii are unclear, but probably closest to Sect. Pinea, subsect. Pinaster (Frankis 1993).

Description

A tree, 30-45(65) m tall with and open crown and level to upcurved branches, the crown changing from conical to rounded as the tree ages. Bark rough, gray-brown, deeply fissured, forming small rounded plates on the lower part of the trunk; thin and flaky in upper crown. Branches mostly uninodal. Leaves 2 per fascicle, 19-27 cm long, moderately slender, rigid, sheaths persistent; dried leaves 100-200 mg per fascicle (c.f. under 90 mg in P. merkusii). Cones singly or in pairs with short stalks, 6.5-13 cm long, elongate conic with a rounded base before opening, green ripening glossy orange-brown. Cone scales large with a flat apophysis and a prominent transverse keel; seeds medium-small, 10 mm, with a long wing. The seedlings show a grass stage. (Cooling and Gaussen 1970, Farjon 1984, de Laubenfels 1988).

Range

Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Thailand and southern Myanmar; also in extreme S China (Hainan Island), but possibly introduced there. It is found from sea level to 900 m (mostly at lower altitudes than the sympatric P. kesiya but with some overlap), usually in open, savannah-like areas that are frequently burned by native peoples (de Laubenfels 1988). USDA hardiness zone 9-10.

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Planted trees are tapped for resin (Farjon 1984).

Observations

Remarks

Listed as threatened in Vietnam (as P. merkusii) by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Citations

Cooling, E.N.G. and H. Gaussen. 1970. In Indochina Pinus merkusiana sp. nov. et non P. merkusii Jungh. et De Vriese. Trav. Lab. Forest. Toulouse T. 1 V. 8 Art. 7.

Frankis, M.P. 1993. Morphology and affinities of Pinus brutia. Pp. 11-18 in O. Tashkin (ed.) Papers Internatl. Sympos. Pinus brutia. Marmaris / Ankara.

This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
Last modified on 2007.11.15