Dense-flowered pine is a bright representative of the coniferous class. Its evergreen crowns have long delighted the eyes of Asian sages and poets. They admired her fortitude and immutability, as if time itself had no power over her. Alas, they were bitterly mistaken, because after centuries this tree was on the verge of extinction. And now only a few lucky ones can admire its beautiful branches with pleasure.
Dense-flowered pine: species description
As the name implies, this tree belongs to the pine family. The dense-colored pine differs from its relatives, first of all, by its rather dense needles. It is this feature that gives the plant extraordinary beauty. But as a true “model”, pine has a bad character: without enough moisture, it quickly fades, which has a very bad effect on its numbers.
Natural habitat
Dense-flowered pine growspredominantly in East Asia. The largest arrays of these trees are located in Northeast China, Korea and Japan. It is these countries that have climatic conditions that are most optimal for the growth of these representatives of the flora. If we talk about Russia, here densely flowered pine is found exclusively in the Primorsky Territory.
Wood is very demanding on the presence of moisture and light. Therefore, it prefers to grow on rocky slopes located along the reservoir. However, this does not mean that pine is not able to settle on sandy soil. With a sufficient amount of groundwater, it masters any type of land without much difficulty.
Another important point is that this type of pine does not form dense massifs and forests. In most cases, trees grow in small groups, rarely create groves. But with other species, pine gets along much better. Its frequent neighbors are oak, birch and beech. In addition, in areas with soft soil, many shrubs and stunted trees take shelter under its protection.
Appearance
Dense-flowered pine is an evergreen coniferous tree. On average, it grows up to 10-15 meters in height. It should be noted that in past years this plant had a much larger size. For example, a tree 200-250 years old can reach 30 meters in height. However, due to a number of environmental factors, today only a few pines can boast of such a solid age. Regarding the trunk itself, it is most often strongly curved - straight treesgrow exclusively in dense forests. Pine bark is brown-red or dark brown. The needles are thin but plentiful.
Tree and man
Today it is an endangered species of trees. That is why many Asian countries have established a law according to which they will have densely flowered pine under their protection. The Red Book of Russia also prohibits cutting down these trees on its territory. However, if people understand the importance of these bans, then forest fires and hurricanes simply ignore them.
Today, man has introduced a lot of additional measures aimed at increasing the population of this species. Dense-flowered pine is grown not only on the territory of reserves, but also bred in private sectors. In addition, thanks to the efforts of world environmental organizations, this tree was planted outside its historical homeland - in North America and Europe.
