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Pinus canariensis, the Canary Island pine, is a species of gymnosperm in the conifer family Pinaceae. It is a large, evergreen tree, native and endemic to the outer Canary Islands of the Atlantic Ocean.
DescriptionEdit
Pinus canariensis is a large evergreen tree, growing to Template:Convert tall and Template:Convert diameter at breast height,<ref name="International2002">Template:Cite book</ref> exceptionally up to Template:Cvt tall and Template:Cvt girth (Template:Cvt diameter).<ref name=MT1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The green to yellow-green leaves are needle-like, in bundles of three, Template:Cvt long,<ref name="International2002" /> with finely toothed margins and often drooping. A characteristic of the species is the occurrence of epicormic shoots with single (not in threes) glaucous (bluish-green) juvenile leaves growing from the lower trunk, but in its natural area this only occurs as a consequence of fire or other damage. The cones are Template:Cvt long, Template:Cvt wide,<ref name="International2002" /> glossy chestnut-brown in colour and frequently remaining closed for several years (serotinous cones). Its closest relatives are the chir pine (P. roxburghii) from the Himalayas, the Mediterranean pines P. pinea, P. halepensis, P. pinaster and P. brutia from the eastern Mediterranean.
TaxonomyEdit
Pinus canariensis was first described in 1825 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, who attributed the name to Christen Smith.<ref name=IPNI_262832-1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Tropicos</ref> It has been placed in subsection Pinaster of subgenus Pinus, section Pinus. The other species in the subsection are mainly Mediterranean in distribution, with one species (P. roxburghii) from the Himalayas.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Distribution and habitatEdit
The species is native and endemic to the outer Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, El Hierro and La Palma).<ref name="International2002" /> It is a subtropical pine and does not tolerate low temperatures or hard frost, surviving temperatures down to about Template:Convert. Within its natural area, it grows under extremely variable rainfall regimes, from less than Template:Convert to several thousands, mostly due to differences in mist-capturing by the foliage. Under warm conditions, this is one of the most drought-tolerant pines, living even with less than Template:Cvt of rainfall per year.
The native range has been somewhat reduced due to over-cutting so that only the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, and Gran Canaria still have large forests, with extensive replanting of deforested areas since 1940.<ref name=Ashmole1>Template:Cite book</ref> Really big trees are rare due to past over-cutting.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It is the tallest tree in the Canary Islands, with the tallest specimen, 'Pino de las Dos Pernadas' near Vilaflor on Tenerife, being 56.7 m tall.<ref name=MT2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Fossil recordEdit
Fossils of Pinus canariensis have been described from the fossil flora of Kızılcahamam district in Turkey which is of early Pliocene age.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Fossil cones including seeds of Pinus canariensis are known from the late Miocene of Abkhazia, from the Vienna Basin and the Canary Islands. Numerous cone casts including seeds of Pinus canariensis from the early Pleistocene, were recovered on Kallithea, Rhodes.<ref>Fossil seed cones of Pinus L. (Sect. Pinus, subsect. Pinaster LOUDON, Sula group) from the late Neogene and early Pleistocene of Europe, Palaeontographica, Abteilung B: Palaeobotany, Palaeophytology Article Vol. 291, Issues 1–6: 131–164, September 2014 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany - DOI:10.1127/palb/291/1994/131 by Zlatko Kvacek, Vasilis Teodoridi, Petr Mazouch and Paul Roiron</ref>
EcologyEdit
This pine is one of the most fire-resistant conifers in the world, due to several beneficial adaptations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In particular, Pinus canariensis is one of the few pine species that can epicormically resprout after losing its needles in a fire.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
UsesEdit
The tree's long needles make a significant contribution to the islands' water supply, trapping large amounts of cloud droplets as fog drip. This comes from the moist air coming off the Atlantic with the prevailing north eastern wind (locally called "alisios" or "tiempo norte"); the fog drip measured under trees can be up to 20 times the rainfall measured in the open away from trees at the same site. The condensation after dropping to the ground is quickly absorbed by the soil, and percolates down to the underground aquifers.<ref name=Ashmole2>Template:Cite book</ref>
The aromatic wood, especially the heartwood, is among the finest of pine woods, being hard, strong and durable.<ref name=handbook>Template:Cite book</ref> The wood of the Canary island pine is now becoming popular as a tonewood for soundboards for guitars and other string instruments.
Pinus canariensis is a popular ornamental tree in warmer climates, such as in private gardens, public landscapes, and as street trees. In mainland Spain, South Africa, Sicily, Australia, and California, it has become a naturalised species from original landscape uses.
In cultureEdit
It is the vegetable symbol of the island of La Palma.<ref>Template:Cite act</ref>
GalleryEdit
- Pinus canariensis forest Caldera de Taburiente 3.jpg
In natural habitat on Canary Islands
- CanaryIslandPine02MelbourneBotanicGardens.jpg
Trunk
- Pincan01.jpg
Epicormic shoots
- Pinus canariensis (male) in Presa de las Niñas 02 (cropped).jpg
A cluster of mature male cones of a Pinus canariensis in Gran Canaria
- Pinus canariensis.jpg
Mature opened female cone
- Pincan21a.jpg
Figure on timber
- Pinus canariensis PICT3077.jpg
Fire-resistant trunk
- Kanarische Kiefer bei Vilaflor, Teneriffa.jpg
Vilaflor, Tenerife
- Pinus canariensis PICT3076.jpg
Tenerife south
- Pinus canariensis (Santa Cruz) 01 ies.jpg
Pinus canariensis, Santa Cruz
- Pinus canariensis forest La Palma.jpg
Pinus canariensis forest, La Palma
- Pinus canariensis Caldera de Taburiente 1.jpg
Pinus canariensis Caldera de Taburiente
- Snow in Tenerife.jpg
Tenerife
- Gran canaria llanos de la pez roque nublo teide.jpg
Gran Canaria
- Young cone.JPG
Male cones of Pinus canariensis photographed in Temecula, CA, USA
- Pinus canariensis - Gran Canaria.jpg
Ayacata, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.
- Pinus canariensis kz15.jpg
seedling in La Talleta, Tenerife, Canary Islands
- Tamadaba forest.jpg
Pinus canariensis forest in Tamadaba Natural Park
