Editing Pinus merkusii (section)

==Description==
''Pinus merkusii'' is a medium-sized to large [[tree]], reaching {{convert|25|–|45|m|abbr=off|ft}} tall and with a trunk diameter of 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 in pairs, very slender, {{Convert|15–20|cm|abbr=off|frac=2}} long and less than {{Convert|1|mm|frac=32}} thick, green to yellowish green.

The [[conifer cone|cones]] are narrow conic, {{Convert|5–8|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and {{Convert|2|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy red-brown. They open to 4–5&nbsp;cm broad at maturity to release the seeds. The seeds are {{Convert|5–6|mm|abbr=on|frac=32}} long, with a {{Convert|15–20|mm|abbr=on|frac=4}} wing, and are wind-dispersed.

{{gallery|mode=packed
|Pinus merkusii Toba1.jpg|Branches with cones
}}

=== Related species ===
''Pinus merkusii'' is closely related to the [[Tenasserim pine]] (''P.&nbsp;latteri''), which occurs farther north in southeast Asia from [[Myanmar]] to [[Vietnam]]; some botanists treat the two as conspecific (under the name ''P.&nbsp;merkusii'', which was described first), but ''P.&nbsp;latteri'' differs in longer ({{Convert|18–27|cm|abbr=on|disp=or|frac=2}}) and stouter (over 1&nbsp;mm thick) leaves and larger cones with thicker scales, the cones often remaining closed for some time after maturity. It is also related to the group of [[Mediterranean]] pines including [[Aleppo pine]] and [[Turkish pine]], which share many features with it.