Pinus cubensis
Cuba pine ( Pinus cubensis ) near Baracoa
The Cuban pine ( Pinus cubensis ) is a plant of the genus pine (Pinus ). This endemic in the eastern highlands of Cuba Attraction type is closely related to the Hispaniola pine ( Pinus occidentalis).
Description
The Cuban pine grows as evergreen tree, reaching heights of growth of 25 to 30 meters. The bark of young branches is first bluish and somewhat hairy, later it is gray - brown and peels off in thin, flaky dandruff from. The cylindrically shaped, dark brown buds are resinous. The couple standing together needles are thick, stiff, dull green and 10 to 14 inches long.
The reddish-brown cones are 4-5 inches long, they are oval, forward conical narrowing. The part of the cone scales, which has ( apophysis ( Botany )) to the outside, flat, notched in the middle with a small survey ( navel). The seeds are 0.5 to 0.6 inches long with a wing 2-3 inches, without wings.
Dissemination
The Cuban pine occurs in the Sierra Maestra and in the Sierra de Nipe, but also in the foothills and partly on the coast in the east of the island. It grows at altitudes from 100 to 900, rarely to 1200 meters.
It grows in serpentine areas or on Latosol, at lower elevations on sandy alluvial soils. Cuba - pine mainly occur on acidic soils with low water retention capacity. The annual rainfall in this ecoregion can be up to 1800 mm, with a dry season from November to April and a rainy season from May to October. The average annual temperature is 25 ° C, where it is slightly lower at higher altitudes. August is the warmest month and the coldest is January.
The Cuban pine is there, usually as a single species, the tree layer. It is associated with Dracaena cubensis, species of the genera Eupatorium sl, Myrtus and Baccharis and with Jacaranda arborea and Eugenia pinetorum.
Botanical history
The Cuban pine was first described in 1862 by Grisebach. Bites separated in 1975 by Pinus occidentalis, the species Pinus maestrensis from, this is, however, considered by other authors as a synonym of Pinus cubensis. Silba ordered the Cuban pine 1990, as a subspecies of Hispaniola pine ( Pinus occidentalis).