Scientific Name : Pinus massoniana Lamb.
Common Name : Chinese Red Pine
Chinese Name : 馬尾松
Family : PINACEAE
Local distribution status : Native species
| Origin | South-Central, North-Central and Southeast China, Hainan and Taiwan. |
|---|---|
| Ecology | I believe most people have heard about Chinese Red Pine but never or seldom see the tree. Indeed, it was dominant in early Hong Kong, with remarkable vicissitudes of history. Chinese Red Pine is the only pine tree species native to Hong Kong. By virtue of its great tolerance to barren lands, it was widely adopted as one of the framework trees in the early revitalization of barren hills to attenuate soil erosion. In 1894, Chinese Red Pine was threatened by Dendrolimus punctatus (Masson Pine Caterpillar). About 36 tons of caterpillars defoliated the trees and eliminated a certain part of the population. The problem was alleviated after the application of chemical pesticides in the 1950s. Nothing lasts forever. The population of Chinese Red Pine faced the second reduction during the Japanese invasion and Chinese Civil War in Hong Kong (1940–1946). Most of the trees were logged for fuels and woods. Reforestation restarted after the wars and the dominance of Chinese Red Pine had declined due to the increasing introduction of Acacia confusa (Taiwan Acacia), Lophostemon confertus (Brisbane Box) and Pinus elliottii (Slash Pine), which are currently known as The Three Treasures for Afforestation in Hong Kong. Until the 1970s, the invasions of Hemiberlesia pitysophila (Pine Needle Scale) and the Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Pinewood Nematode) resulted in the massive deaths of Chinese Red Pine within 10 years. Since Slash Pine is less susceptible to the pests, it has substituted the Chinese Red Pine and become the dominant pine species in Hong Kong. |
| Application | Chinese Red Pine is a common pioneer tree in plantation forestry in southern China due to its remarkable adaptability to barren soils and drought. In view of its fast growth rate, it is an excellent timber tree, with its wood yearned for making furniture, wood pulp and other construction. Its barks and needles are ancillary ingredients to increase the efficacy of treatments for neurasthenia and hypertension. |
| Meaning of names | The specific epithet massoniana in Latin refers to its horse-tail like leaves. |
| Growing habit | Evergreen tree. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 45 m. |
| Stem | Bark reddish brown, irregularly scaly and flaking. Branchlets yellowish brown, always growing once to twice per year. |
| Leaves | Winter buds brown, ovoid-cylindric or cylindric. Needle 2 per bundle, occasionally 3, slender, slightly twisted, serrate. |
| Pollen cones | Monoecious. Male cones crowded at the base of annual branchlets, female cones at the apex of branchlets. |
| Seed cones | Seed cones pendulous, ovoid, turning green to chestnut when mature, seed scales suboblong-obovoid or subsquare, apophyses rhombic. Seeds narrowly ovoid, winged. |
| Flowering period | April to May in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | October to December in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website: https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=9353
Scientific names from other databases
― Flora of China: Pinus massoniana Lambert
― Plants of the World Online: Pinus massoniana Lamb.