View source for Pinus kesiya

{{Short description|Species of conifer}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Pinus kesiya Blanco2.453.jpg
|image2=Pinus kesiya Binga.jpg
|image2_caption=Benguet pine in [[Benguet]], [[Philippines]]
| status = LC 
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Pinus kesiya'' |volume=2013 |page=e.T42372A2975925 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42372A2975925.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| display_parents = 3
| genus = Pinus
| parent = Pinus subsect. Pinus
| species = kesiya
| authority = [[John Forbes Royle|Royle]] ex [[George Gordon (botanist)|Gordon]] (1840)
| subdivision_ranks = Varieties
| subdivision = 
*''Pinus kesiya'' var. ''kesiya''
*''Pinus kesiya'' var. ''langbianensis'' {{small|(A.Chev.) Gaussen ex Bui}}
| subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:677057-1 ''Pinus kesiya'' Royle ex Gordon]. ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 12 August 2024.</ref>
}}

'''''Pinus kesiya''''' ('''Khasi pine''', '''Benguet pine''' or '''three-needled pine''') is one of the most widely distributed [[pine]]s in Asia. Its range extends south and east from the [[Khasi Hills]] in the northeast [[India]]n state of [[Meghalaya]], to northern [[Thailand]], [[Philippines]], [[Burma]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], southernmost [[China]], and [[Vietnam]]. It is an important plantation species elsewhere in the world, including in southern [[Africa]] and [[South America]].<ref name=vietnam>{{Cite book
 |isbn        = 1-872291-64-3
 |last        = Luu
 |first       = Nguyen Duc To
 |author2     = Philip Ian Thomas
 |title       = Conifers of Vietnam
 |year        = 2004
 |url         = http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sections/bm/conifer_manual.html
 |pages       = 42–43
 |publisher = Nhà xuất bản Thế giới
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070519165835/http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sections/bm/conifer_manual.html
 |archive-date = 2007-05-19
}}</ref><ref name=icnaf>{{cite web| url=http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18165 |title=''Pinus kesiya'' |work=AgroForestryTree Database |publisher=International Centre for Research in Agroforestry| access-date = 17 April 2012}}</ref>

The common name "Khasi pine" is from the Khasi hills in India, and "Benguet pine" is from the landlocked province of [[Benguet]] in [[Luzon]], Philippines, where it is the dominant species of the [[Luzon tropical pine forests]] (known as ''saleng'' in [[Ilocano language|Ilocano]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Paul Jen-kuei |title=Some notes on animals and plants for Proto-Austronesian speakers |journal=Language and Linguistics. 語言暨語言學 |date=July 2022 |pages=266 |doi=10.1075/lali.18.2.04li|doi-access=free }}</ref>). The Benguet pine is sometimes treated as a separate species, '''''Pinus insularis'''''; however, the current opinion is to treat these as conspecific with ''P.&nbsp;kesiya''. The city of [[Baguio]] is nicknamed "The City of Pines", as it is noted for large stands of this tree.

==Description==
[[File:Bark of Benguet Pine.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Bark of Benguet pine]]

''Pinus kesiya'' is a [[tree]] reaching up to {{Convert|30–35|m|abbr=off}} tall with a straight, cylindrical trunk. The [[Bark (botany)|bark]] is thick and dark brown, with deep longitudinal fissures. The branches are robust, red brown from the second year, the branchlets horizontal to drooping. The [[leaves]] are needle-like, dark green, usually 3 per [[Fascicle (botany)|fascicle]], {{Convert|15–20|cm|abbr=off|frac=2}} long, the fascicle sheath {{Convert|1–2|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and persistent. The [[Conifer cone|cones]] are ovoid, {{Convert|5–9|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, often curved downwards, sometimes slightly distorted; the scales of second-year cones are dense, the [[Pinus|umbo]] a little convex, sometimes acutely spinous. The scales have transverse and longitudinal ridges across the middle of the scale surface. The [[seed]]s are winged, {{Convert|6–7|mm|frac=32}} long with a 1.5–2.5&nbsp;cm wing. Pollination occurs in mid-spring, with the cones maturing 18–20 months after.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Khasi pine usually grows in pure stands or mixed with broad-leaved trees, but does not form open pine forests.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

{{Clear left}}

==Uses==
The soft and light [[timber]] of ''Pinus kesiya'' can be used for a wide range of applications, including boxes, paper pulp, and temporary electric poles. It is intensely used for timber, both sourced in natural forests and plantations.<ref name=vietnam/><ref name=icnaf/>

The good-quality [[resin]] is not abundant and has not been much used except during the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines for the production of [[turpentine]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[The Field Museum]]|url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/vanishing_treasures/V_Pines.htm|website=Vanishing Treasures|first1=Lawrence R.|last1=Heaney|first2=Jacinto C., Jr.|last2=Regaldo |title=Philippine Pines|date=2007}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Casuarina equisetifolia]]'', the agoho pine

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pinus kesiya}}
* [http://www.conifers.org/pi/pin/kesiya.htm Gymnosperm Database: ''Pinus kesiya'']
* [http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct252002/1010.pdf Suitability of ''Pinus kesiya'' for tree-ring analyses]
* {{WWF ecoregion|name=Luzon Tropical Forests|id=im0302}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1939271}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pinus|Kesiya]]
[[Category:Trees of China]]
[[Category:Flora of Assam (region)]]
[[Category:Flora of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Trees of Indo-China]]
[[Category:Trees of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1840]]