Common Names
HuangShan Song [=Huangshan pine].Taxonomic notes
Syn: P. luchuensis var. hwangshanensis (W. Y. Hsia) C. L. Wu; P. luchuensis subsp. hwangshanensis (W. Y. Hsia) D. Z. Li; P. taiwanensis auct. non Hayata. The specific epithet is sometimes spelled 'huangshanensis'. It belongs to the large subsection Pinus, within which it seems to be most closely related to P. thunbergii from Japan (1).Description
Tree: To 25-25 m tall, with a straight trunk and level branches with dense upcurved branchlets, old trees with a flattened crown.Bark: Dark gray or purple-gray, scaly, longitudinally fissured.
Branches: Grey-brown, rough, scaly (1).
Shoots: Chestnut-brown to dark brown, glabrous, with prominent scale-leaf bases (1).
Leaves: Winter buds ovoid-acute, chestnut brown (not whitish as in P. thunbergii), slightly resinous, scales adpressed. Needles 2 per fascicle, 5-8 cm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, acute, dark green, scabrous with minute marginal teeth, persisting 3-4 years; resin canals medial (as in P. thunbergii); sheath persistent, 1 cm long, chestnut-brown (1).
Cones: Subsessile, broad squat ovoid, 4-6.5 cm long, yellow-brown, opening when mature in late winter to x 5-7 cm broad, often long persistent on the tree after opening (1, 3).
Cone scales: 18-30 mm long, 10-18 mm wide at the base narrowing to 8-14 mm wide just below apophysis, then slightly wider again, 10-15 mm, at the apophysis; scale stem blackish to dark purple-brown on upper side, mid brown on seed side; apophysis lustrous yellow-brown, rounded, slightly swollen, with the small mucronate umbo often slightly recessed (particularly on basal scales). On open cones, opening very widely, to 90° or even reflexed - an unusual feature in subsect. Pinus (1, 3).
Pollen cones:
Seeds: Dark brown, ovoid, 6 mm long, with an articulate wing 12-18 mm long and 4-6 mm broad (1, 3).
Wood:
Similar species: It resembles Pinus thunbergii closely in form and many foliage, bark and cone characters, differing most obviously in its brown buds, slightly slenderer needles and squat, broader cones. It is also similar to P. nigra.
Range
E. China: scattered at moderate to high altitudes in Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian (2). USDA hardiness zone 6-7.Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Easiest to see at the type locality of Huang Shan, a World Heritage Site. Photographs of the pines at this locality can be seen on the cover and p. 17 of The Natural History of China (Zhao et al., 1990, Collins), and in the introduction of the Trees for Life 1999 diary.Remarks
A very important picturesque tree creating much of the character of the sacred mountain Huang Shan in Anhui province, E China.Citations
(1) W.Y. Hsia. 1936. Flowering plants of Hwangshan. Contrib. Inst. Bot. Nat. Acad. Peiping 4: 155-156.(2) Critchfield & Little 1966.
(3) Cones in M.P. Frankis' collection from cultivated trees in Britain.
This page prepared April-1999 by M.P. Frankis.
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This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/pi/pin/hwangshanensis.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 25-Apr-1999