Editing Pinus halepensis (section)

==Description==
''Pinus halepensis'' is a small to medium-sized [[tree]], {{convert|15|-|25|m|abbr=off}} tall, with a [[trunk (botany)|trunk]] diameter up to {{convert|60|cm|abbr=off}}, exceptionally up to {{convert|1|m|abbr=on}}. The [[Bark (botany)|bark]] is orange-red, thick, and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, and thin and flaky in the upper crown. The [[leaves]] ('needles') are very slender, {{convert|6|-|12|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, distinctly yellowish green, and produced in pairs (rarely a few in threes). The [[conifer cone|cones]] are narrow conic, {{convert|5|-|12|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and {{convert|2|-|3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy red-brown when 24 months old. They open slowly over the next few years, a process quickened if they are exposed to heat such as in [[wildfire|forest fire]]s. The cones open {{convert|5|-|8|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} wide to allow the seeds to disperse. The seeds are {{convert|5|-|6|mm|frac=16}} long, with a {{Convert|20|mm|abbr=on|frac=16}} wing, and are wind-[[Seed dispersal|dispersed]].<ref name=farjon/><ref name=rushforth/><ref name=nahal>Nahal, I. (1962). Le Pin d'Alep (''Pinus halepensis'' Miller). Étude taxonomique, phytogéographique, écologique et sylvicole. ''Annales de l'École National des Eaux et Forêts'' (Nancy) 19: 1–207.</ref>

=== Related species ===
The Aleppo pine is closely related to the [[Turkish pine]], [[Canary Island pine]], and [[maritime pine]], which all share many of its characteristics. Some authors include the Turkish pine as a subspecies of the Aleppo pine, as ''Pinus halepensis'' subsp. ''brutia'' (Ten.) Holmboe,<ref name=kic>Christensen, K. I. (1997). ''Gymnospermae''. Pp. 1–17 in Strid, A., & Tan, K., eds., ''Flora Hellenica'' 1. Königstein.</ref> but it is usually regarded as a distinct species.<ref name=farjon/><ref name=rushforth/><ref name=nahal/><ref name=dmr>Richardson, D. M., ed. (1998). ''Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus''. Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|0-521-55176-5}}.</ref> It is a relatively nonvariable species, in that its morphological characteristics stay constant over the entire range.<ref name=farjon/>