Distribution of Pinus merkusii (solid color) and P. latteri (large enclosed region) (3).
Common Names
Sumatran pine (2).Taxonomic notes
Syn: 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).
Description
A 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).Range
N & 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 Tree
Reported to 70 m tall (3), making it the tallest pine in the Old World.Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Planted trees are tapped for resin (2).Observations
Remarks
Citations
(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.
[Pinus] [Pinaceae] [home]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/pi/pin/merkusii.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 6-Feb-1999