Pinus kesiya seed

LATIN NAME: PINUS KESIYA

COMMON NAME: Khasi Pine

The Khasi pine sways the tall, evergreen conifer with the long, slender, drooping, grey-green needles in the bundles of three and the thick, flaking, grey-brown bark, the long needles swaying along the open branches, the small, egg-shaped, brown cones following. The tree grows quickly into the open, rounded crown, and it stands the heat and the dry spells well. It likes the sun, and the well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The drooping needles of the Khasi pine give it a recognised place in the research on the tropical highland pines of the great pine group, and the kesiya species appears in the studies of the fast timber conifers and the warm-slope growth. The work looks at the way the slender needles sway along the open branches, the resin value, and the seed biology. The foresters value the quick timber, and the growers of the warm-climate shelter and ornamental pines keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm, open ground, the Khasi pine sways the warm garden with the long, drooping needles. The timber serves the building, the boxes and the resin trade, the cones feed the birds, and the tree makes the fine windbreak. It grows well in the well-drained, sunny ground. Slender-needled, quick and resin-rich.

To grow the Khasi Pine from seed, sow the seeds into the light, sandy drills of the open ground in the autumn.

Sow the seeds into the light, sandy drills of the open ground, and give the young trees the open, sunny spot. The sway needles come within a few seasons. , then cover them lightly, keep the drills gently watered, and the young trees shoot up over the spring. The sway needles will droop within a few seasons.

Pinus kesiya is a tree reaching up to 30–35 m tall with straight, cylindrical trunk. The bark is thick, 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, 15–20 cm long, the fascicle sheath 1–2 cm long and persistent. The cones are ovoid, 5–9 cm long, often curved downwards, sometimes slightly distorted; the scales of second-year cones are dense, the umbo a little convex, sometimes acutely spinous. The scales have transverse and longitudinal ridges across the middle of the scale surface. The seeds are winged, 6–7 mm long with a 1.5-2.5 cm wing. Pollination is in mid spring, with the cones maturing 18–20 months after. Khasi Pine usually grows in pure stands or mixed with broad-leaved trees, but does not form open pine forests.