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Pinus gerardiana
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Pinus gerardiana
Pinus gerardiana, commonly known as the chilghoza pine or neja, is a pine species native to parts of central and southern Asia, including the western Himalayas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed it as near threatened in 2011. The pine nuts are locally collected for consumption.
The trees are 15–25 metres (49–82 ft) tall with usually deep, wide and open crowns with long, erect branches. However, crowns are narrower and shallower in dense forests. The bark is very flaky, peeling to reveal light greyish-green patches. The branchlets are smooth and olive-green. The leaves are needle-like, in groups of three, 6–10 centimetres (2+1⁄2–4 in) long, and spread stiffly. They are glossy green on the outer surface, with blue-green stomatal lines on the inner face; their sheaths fall in the first year. The cones are 10–18 cm (4–7 in) long and 9–11 cm (3+1⁄2–4+1⁄2 in) wide when open, with wrinkled, reflexed apophyses and an umbo curved inward at the base. The seeds (pine nuts) are 17–23 millimetres (5⁄8–7⁄8 in) long and 5–7 mm (3⁄16–1⁄4 in) broad, with a thin shell and a rudimentary wing.
P. gerardiana is similar to the closely related lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana), another pine with flaking bark. However, P. gerardiana has denser, longer, and more slender needles, as well as larger cones than P. bungeana.
The scientific name commemorates Captain Patrick Gerard, a British army officer of the Bengal Native Infantry. who collected it during a 1823–25 military survey in India.
It was first published in A.B.Lambert, Descr. Pinus, ed. 3, 2: 144 bis in 1832.
P. gerardiana is native to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tibet. It grows at elevations of 1,800–3,350 m (5,910–10,990 ft). It inhabits valley floors in the Himalayas, tending to grow among open vegetation on dry, sunny slopes.
It often occurs in association with Cedrus deodara, and Pinus wallichiana.
Since their seeds do not have a wing capable of enabling effective dispersal by wind, the seeds of P. gerardiana are dispersed by birds. The Eurasian nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes subsp. multipunctata) is one such species that does so.
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Pinus gerardiana
Pinus gerardiana, commonly known as the chilghoza pine or neja, is a pine species native to parts of central and southern Asia, including the western Himalayas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed it as near threatened in 2011. The pine nuts are locally collected for consumption.
The trees are 15–25 metres (49–82 ft) tall with usually deep, wide and open crowns with long, erect branches. However, crowns are narrower and shallower in dense forests. The bark is very flaky, peeling to reveal light greyish-green patches. The branchlets are smooth and olive-green. The leaves are needle-like, in groups of three, 6–10 centimetres (2+1⁄2–4 in) long, and spread stiffly. They are glossy green on the outer surface, with blue-green stomatal lines on the inner face; their sheaths fall in the first year. The cones are 10–18 cm (4–7 in) long and 9–11 cm (3+1⁄2–4+1⁄2 in) wide when open, with wrinkled, reflexed apophyses and an umbo curved inward at the base. The seeds (pine nuts) are 17–23 millimetres (5⁄8–7⁄8 in) long and 5–7 mm (3⁄16–1⁄4 in) broad, with a thin shell and a rudimentary wing.
P. gerardiana is similar to the closely related lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana), another pine with flaking bark. However, P. gerardiana has denser, longer, and more slender needles, as well as larger cones than P. bungeana.
The scientific name commemorates Captain Patrick Gerard, a British army officer of the Bengal Native Infantry. who collected it during a 1823–25 military survey in India.
It was first published in A.B.Lambert, Descr. Pinus, ed. 3, 2: 144 bis in 1832.
P. gerardiana is native to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tibet. It grows at elevations of 1,800–3,350 m (5,910–10,990 ft). It inhabits valley floors in the Himalayas, tending to grow among open vegetation on dry, sunny slopes.
It often occurs in association with Cedrus deodara, and Pinus wallichiana.
Since their seeds do not have a wing capable of enabling effective dispersal by wind, the seeds of P. gerardiana are dispersed by birds. The Eurasian nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes subsp. multipunctata) is one such species that does so.
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