Himalayan pine (Pinus wallichiana)
Appearance: An evergreen coniferous tree with a loose crown, initially quite regularly branched whorls, what causes, that in young trees, the crown appears to be very rare.
The thickened $ branches extend a little less regularly and more widely, It grows up to 50 m in height, the usual, however, less.
The penalty is very thin, initially smooth and gray-brown, later with a slight pattern of cracks and furrows. Initially, the shoots appear frosty, but naked, yellowish green or brown. Length buds approx 6 mm, slightly pointed, conical in shape they cover long-lanceolate scales,
Pins collected five in bunches on short shoots, rather straight up on leading shoots, otherwise always dangling. Long on 8-20 cm, very pliable and soft, sharpened at the front, a bit rough on the edge, gray-green or pale green, from a distance they sometimes appear to be bluish-green in color.
Male flowers usually gathered in large numbers at the base of young shoots.
Very large female cones after maturing, with a length of up to 15-25 cm. and in width – in the open state – even to 10 centimeters. Cones scales longitudinally grooved, always coated with clear or whitish resin on the top. Empty cones can remain on the tree for many years. Occurrence: Himalayan pine comes from Afghanistan and Nepal, where in the Himalayas it inhabits the zone lying from 2000 do 4000 m n.p.m. For decades, it has been planted quite often in parks and gardens as an ornamental tree
and is one of the most widely used Asian pine species.
Flowering period: April to May.
General thoughts: Because of the very loose fit, "Open” growth habitat of Himalayan pine (also botanically cited under the names Pinus excelsa or Pinus griflithii) it cannot be confused with any other pine species, although there is some similarity to other species. In general, species of the genus Pinus form a remarkable group among coniferous trees, No other genus has as many species – is known in the world 80 pine species, most of which are not found in Asia, but in subtropical America, Pines are also the oldest trees in the world. The record holder is growing in the mountains of California (White Mountains w Sierra Nevada) bristly pine (Pinus), on the basis of measurements of annual rings, age up to 4700 lat. It is older than the mammoth trees. which pass among the trees as Methuselahs. In contrast to fir and Douglas fir cones, it is not possible to clearly distinguish between different types of scales in pines (seed scales, casing scales). Virtually the entire cone consists of thickened seed scales, which in some species develop into very massive formations, in others, they only form narrow tile-like scales.