''Pinus massoniana'' (English: Masson's pine, Chinese red pine, horsetail pine; Chinese: 馬尾松) is a species of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China, and northern Vietnam.

Description

It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree reaching in height, with a broad, rounded crown of long branches. The

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

is thick, grayish-brown, and scaly plated at the base of the trunk, and orange-red, thin, and flaking higher on the trunk. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are needle-like, dark green, with two per fascicle, long and wide, the persistent fascicle sheath long. The

cones In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

are ovoid, long, chestnut-brown, opening when mature in late winter to broad. The

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s are winged, long with a wing. Pollination occurs in mid-spring, with the cones maturing 18–20 months after.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China including Hong Kong, and northern Vietnam, growing at low to moderate altitudes, mostly below but rarely up to above sea level.

Ecology

In the 1970s and 80s, the Pinewood nematode from North America and

pine-needle scale insect ''Chionaspis pinifoliae'', the pine needle scale insect, is a common species of scale insect found on pine, spruce and other conifers across Canada and throughout the United States.Rose, A.H.; Lindquist, O.H. 1985. Insects of eastern spruces, fir ...

from Taiwan, together virtually eliminated the native ''Pinus massoniana'' in Hong Kong.

Fossil record

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

seed cone and several needles of ''Pinus massoniana'' have been described from the

upper Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ...

Wenshan flora,

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, SW China. The fossils most resemble the

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''P. massoniana var. hainanensis'', which is a tropical montane

thermophilic A thermophile is a type of extremophile that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though some of them are bacteria and fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bact ...

tree restricted to

Hainan Island Hainan is an island province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally means "South of the Sea ...

in southern China.

Uses

The species is a common tree used in

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

for replacing or compensating for the loss of the natural forest in southern China.Ecosystem services of various types of artificial forest in South China – a provisional summary
/ref> Chinese

rosin Rosin (), also known as colophony or Greek pitch (), is a resinous material obtained from pine trees and other plants, mostly conifers. The primary components of rosin are diterpenoids, i.e., C20 carboxylic acids. Rosin consists mainly of r ...

is obtained mainly from the

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

of ''P. massoniana'' and

slash pine ''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a Pinophyta, conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is n ...

(''P. elliottii''). Logs are mainly used to make pulp for

paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is intro ...

. Leaves are used to give special smoke flavor to a local

black tea Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...

, such as

Lapsang souchong Lapsang souchong (; ) or Zhengshan xiaozhong (, 'Proper Mountain Small Varietal') is a black tea consisting of leaves that are smoke-dried over a pinewood fire. This smoking is accomplished either as a cold smoke of the raw leaves as they are ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

Habit

File:Pinus massoniana 1.jpg, File:Pinus massoniana 2.jpg, File:Pinus massoniana SZ114.png,

Notes

References

*
Pinus massoniana - Plants For A Future database report
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q716571 massoniana massoniana Trees of Hong Kong Trees of Taiwan Trees of Vietnam Least concern plants