Pinus luchensis, Luchu/Okinawa pineUSDA H8-9 Closely related to ~hwangshanensis and ~taiwanensis
Common names:
Luchu pine, Okinawa pine, Ryukyu island pine, Ryukyu-matsu (Japanese)
Description
Tree to 15(-25) m tall, with trunk to 1 m in diameter. Bark gray, long remaining smooth, eventually beginning to flake and then darkening to grayish black and breaking up into irregular plates. Crown flat-topped and open, with numerous long, slender, upwardly angled branches densely clothed with foliage at the tips. Twigs yellowish brown, with tufts of tiny hairs, rough with the bases of scale leaves. Buds 1-2 cm long, reddish brown, resinous. Needles in bundles of two, each needle 12-16(-20) cm long, slender but stiff and straight, lasting 2(-3) years, dark green. Individual needles with lines of stomates on both faces and two to six resin canals, the two at the corners touching the needle surface and the others midway between the surface and the two-stranded midvein. Sheath 10-15 mm long, weathering to 5-10 mm and persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones densely crowded, 12-20 mm long, reddish brown. Seed cones 3-4(-6) cm long, egg-shaped, with 60-80 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening dull yellowish brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then persisting a while before falling with the slender, short stalk to 1 cm long. Seed scales paddle-shaped, the exposed face irregularly fan-shaped, flat, crossed by a low ridge topped by a small, slightly protruding umbo. Seed body 3-4 mm long, the easily detachable wing another 9-12 mm longer.
Ryukyu Islands of Japan, from Amami Ōshima in the north to Yonaguni Jima in the south. Forming pure, open stands from the coast to the mountain slopes; 0-300(-700) m.
