Pinus taiwanensis (黄山松, Taiwan red pine) description

Conservation Status

(var. fragilissima)

(var. taiwanensis)

Pinus taiwanensis

Hayata (1911)

Common names

黄山松 Taiwan song [Chinese], Taiwan red pine, Taiwan black pine, Taiwan pine, Formosa pine.

Taxonomic notes

Two varieties:

Pinus taiwanensis var. fragilissima (Businsky) Farjon (2010). Type: Taiwan, Taitung Co., 1 km N of Wulu along Southern Cross-Island Highway, R. Businsky 32172 (holotype PR).
Pinus taiwanensis var. taiwanensis. Type: Taiwan, Central Mountains, T. Kawakami and U. Mori 2097 (lectotype TI).

Synonymy: see POWO.

Pinus taiwanensis is the Taiwanese representative of a group of three closely related taxa: Pinus taiwanensis of Taiwan, Pinus luchuensis of Japan, and Pinus hwangshanensis of mainland China. References to P. taiwanensis in mainland China are referable to P. hwangshanensis. All three taxa are morphologically similar, but distinct, and they are here treated as separate species, although they could also be called subspecies of P. luchuensis.

Description

Trees to 50 m tall and 120 cm dbh, usually with a single straight bole and a domed for flat-topped crown of long, spreading branches that are only partly self-pruning. Bark rough, scaly, with large plates and deep cracks, gray-brown to dark gray. Twigs glabrous, fairly smooth, light brown. Buds ovoid-conical, 10-15 × 5-7 mm, orange or rusty, slightly resinous, cataphylls appressed. Leaves in fascicles of 2 with a persistent, slender basal sheath 10-15 mm long; straight or slightly curved, 8-20 cm long and 0.7-1.0 mm thick, slender, pliant, slightly twisted, margins serrulate, stomata in fine lines on all surfaces, apex acute. Pollen cones clustered, spirally arranged, short-cylindrical, 15-20 mm long, maturing yellow, aging yellowish brown. Seed cones solitary or paired, on short peduncles, spreading or slightly reflexed, 4-9 cm long, asymmetrical, narrow-ovoid when closed, up to 5.5 cm wide when open, persistent. Seed scales thin, woody, stiff, oblong, up to 25 × 13 mm, straight when cone is open, dull brown, apophyses rhombic, flat to slightly raised, transversely keeled, slightly rugose, lustrous brown; umbo broad-ellipsoid, sometimes with an easily-deciduous prickle. Seeds a flattened ellipsoid, 5-6 mm long with at persistent 15-20 mm wing (Li 1975, Farjon 2010).

Var. fragilissima has 16-20 cm leaves and 6-9 cm seed cones with somewhat thinner seed scales. Var. taiwanensis has 10-15 cm leaves and 4-6 cm seed cones with somewhat thicker seed scales (Farjon 2010).

Liu (1970) and Li (1975) note that P. luchuensis, compared to P. taiwanensis, has longer needles (12-16 vs. 8-11 cm), fewer resin ducts (2-3 vs. 4-7); shorter cones (4-5 vs 6-7 cm); thinner bark; and different inner bark coloration (pale yellow-white vs. pale red-white).

Distribution and Ecology

Taiwan: Chiayi, Xinchu, Ilan, Nantou, & Taichung Xians; 750-3500 m elevation in central ranges of Taiwan; in habitats ranging from large pure stands to broadleaf-conifer forest to subalpine meadow (HAST 1999, Li 1975, Liu 1970). At the highest elevations it is severely stunted. At lower elevations it primarily occurs on exposed sites and places with poor soils, forming a pine-oak woodland (Farjon 2010). Hardy to Zone 8 (cold hardiness limit between -12.1°C and -6.7°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Remarkable Specimens

No information as of 2025.02.13.

Ethnobotany

This is an important timber tree in Taiwan (Wu and Raven 1999). The timber is suitable for construction and use as railroad ties and mine timbers. It is also used for fences, gates, crates, paneling, flooring, plywood, and pulp. However, it is rarely seen in horticulture (Farjon 2010).

Observations

Not seen. Some specific location data (HAST 1999) follow:

Taiwan: 121°12'16"E, 24°28'08"N, 2650 m; 120°58'E, 23°35'N; 121°16'E, 24°03'N, 2360-3500 m; otherwise 2150-3450 m. Habitats include primary forest, mixed with Pinus armandii; mixed Tsuga, Chamaecyparis, Pinus and Fagaceae forest on mountain ridge; mixed broadleaf woodland and Pinus plantation; mixed broadleaf-confer forest; and scattered in alpine meadow. Cited trees ca. 4-10 m tall.

Remarks

The epithet refers to the species' occurrence in Taiwan, where it is endemic.

Citations

Hayata, Bunzo. 1911. J. Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 30):307. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2025.02.13.

Herbarium of the Research Center For Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei [HAST]. 1999. Database output at http://www2.sinica.edu.tw:8080/hast/eindex.html, accessed 1999.03.15, now defunct.