Distribution of Pinus merkusii (solid color) and P. latteri (large enclosed region) (3).
Common Names
Tenasserim pine.Taxonomic notes
Syn: P. ikedai Yamam.; P. tonkinensis A. Chev.; P. merkusii var. tonkinensis (A. Chev.) Gaussen ex N.-S. Bui; P. merkusii var. latteri (Mason) Silba; P. merkusii subsp. latteri (Mason) D. Z. Li; P. merkusiana Cooling & Gaussen, nom. inval.. Previously commonly treated as synonymous with P. merkusii Jungh. & De Vriese, but now treated as a distinct species (4).Alliances to pines other than P. merkusii are unclear, but probably closest to Sect. Pinea, subsect. Pinaster (5).
Description
A tree, 30-45(65) 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. Branches mostly uninodal. Leaves 2 per fascicle, 19-27 cm long, moderately slender, rigid, sheaths persistent; dried leaves 100-200 mg per fascicle (c.f. under 90 mg in P. merkusii). Cones singly or in pairs with short stalks, 6.5-13 cm long, elongate conic with a rounded base before opening, green ripening glossy orange-brown. Cone scales large with a flat apophysis and a prominent transverse keel; seeds medium-small, 10 mm, with a long wing. The seedlings show a grass stage. (1, 2, 3).Range
Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Thailand and southern Myanmar; also in extreme S China (Hainan Island), but possibly introduced there. It is found from sea level to 900 m (mostly at lower altitudes than the sympatric P. kesiya but with some overlap), usually in open, savannah-like areas that are frequently burned by native peoples. USDA hardiness zone 9-10.Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Planted trees are tapped for resin (2).Observations
Remarks
Listed as threatened in Vietnam (as P. kerkusii) by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre.Citations
(1) 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.(2) Farjon 1984.
(3) de Laubenfels 1988 (as P. merkusii).
(4) Farjon 1998.
(5) M. P. Frankis, Morphology and affinities of Pinus brutia. Pp. 11-18 in O. Tashkin (ed.) Papers Internatl. Sympos. Pinus brutia. Marmaris / Ankara, 1993.
[Pinus] [Pinaceae] [home]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/pi/pin/latteri.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 6-Feb-1999