Pinus taiwanensis Hayata (Li 1975).

Pinus taiwanensis

Hayata 1911

Common Names

Taiwan pine, tai wan song.

Taxonomic Notes

Pinus taiwanensis is the Taiwanese representative of a group of three closely related taxa: Pinus taiwanensis of Taiwan, Pinus luchuensis of Japan, and Pinus hwangshanensis of mainland China. All three taxa are morphologically similar, but distinct, and they are here treated as separate species, although they could also be called subspecies of P. luchuensis.

Syn.: Pinus brevispica Hayata 1913; P. luchuensis sensu Wu 1956, non Mayr 1894; P. luchuensis subsp. taiwanensis (Hayata) D. Z. Li 1997 (Li 1975, Wu and Raven 1999).

Description

"A large tree, up to 35 m in height and 80 cm in diameter, the trunk straight, the branches horizontal, the bark fissured into small scales. Leaves 2 in a fascicle, semicircular in cross section, more or less rigid, 8-11 cm long, the margins serrulate, generally with 4 resin ducts. Mature cones oblong-ovoid, 6-7 cm long. Seeds winged, 15-18 mm long including the wing" (Li 1975).

Liu (1970) and Li (1975) note that P. luchuensis, compared to P. taiwanensis, has longer needles (12-16 vs. 8-11 cm), fewer resin ducts (2-3 vs. 4-7); shorter cones (4-5 vs 6-7 cm); thinner bark; and different inner bark coloration (pale yellow-white vs. pale red-white).

Range

Taiwan: Chiayi, Xinchu, Ilan, Nantou, & Taichung Xians; 750-3500 m elevation in central ranges of Taiwan; in habitats ranging from large pure stands to broadleaf-conifer forest to subalpine meadow (HAST Database, Li 1975, Liu 1970).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

An important timber tree in Taiwan (Wu and Raven 1999).

Observations

Not seen. Some specific location data (HAST Database) follow:

Taiwan: 121°12'16"E, 24°28'08"N, 2650 m; 120°58'E, 23°35'N; 121°16'E, 24°03'N, 2360-3500 m; otherwise 2150-3450 m. Habitats include primary forest, mixed with Pinus armandii; mixed Tsuga, Chamaecyparis, Pinus and Fagaceae forest on mountain ridge; mixed broadleaf woodland and Pinus plantation; mixed broadleaf-confer forest; and scattered in alpine meadow. Cited trees ca. 4-10 m tall.

Remarks

Citations

Hayata. 1911. J. Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo. 30(1): 307.