  Distribution of Pinus merkusii (solid color) and P. latteri (large enclosed region) (3). | Pinus merkusii Junghuhn & de Vriese 1845Common NamesSumatran pine (2).Taxonomic notesSyn: P. merkiana Gordon; P. sumatrana Junghuhn (2). P. latteri Mason, previously considered conspecific, is now treated as a separate species (4).Alliances to pines other than P. latteri are unclear, but probably closest to Sect. Pinea, subsect. Pinaster (6). DescriptionA tree, 30-50(70) m tall with and open crown and level to upcurved branches, the crown changing from conical to rounded as the tree ages. Bark rough, gray-brown, deeply fissured, forming small rounded plates on the lower part of the trunk; thin and flaky in upper crown; all bark thin on trees from some areas at higher altitude (Tapanuli prov., Sumatra) where grass fires are infrequent. Branches mostly multinodal. Leaves 2 per fascicle, 16-19 cm long, slender, rigid, persistent 2 years, sheaths persistent; dried leaves 60-90 mg per fascicle (c.f. over 100 mg in P. latteri). Cones singly or in pairs with short stalks, 4.5-9(11) cm long, with a rounded base, green ripening orange-brown. Cone scales with a thick, glossy, sometimes furrowed apophysis and a prominent transverse keel; seeds small, 7.5 mm, with a long wing (2, 3, 5).RangeN & C Sumatra, and sporadically in the Philippines (Mindoro I.; Zambales prov., Luzon I.). It has the most southerly distribution of any pine and is the only pine occurring south of the Equator, to 2° 06' S in the Barisian Range of Sumatra. It is found at elevations of (0)800-2000 m, usually in open, savannah-like areas that are frequently burned by native peoples, but also in tropical broadleaf forest. The best-developed forests are to be found around Lake Toba in northern Sumatra (2, 3, 7). USDA hardiness zone 10.Big TreeReported to 70 m tall (3), making it the tallest pine in the Old World.OldestDendrochronologyEthnobotanyPlanted trees are tapped for resin (2).ObservationsRemarksCitations(2) Farjon 1984.(3) de Laubenfels 1988. (4) Farjon 1998. (5) E.N.G. Cooling & H. Gaussen 1970. In Indochina Pinus merkusiana sp. nov. et non P. merkusii Jungh. et De Vriese. Trav. Lab. Forest. Toulouse T. 1 V. 8 Art. 7. (6) M. P. Frankis. 1993. Morphology and affinities of Pinus brutia. Pp. 11-18 in O. Tashkin (ed.) Papers International Sympos. Pinus brutia. Marmaris / Ankara. (7) Mirov 1967. |
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