''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

population of the pine in

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in southern Italy, from where the pine was first botanically described), East Mediterranean pine, and Brutia pine.

Description

''Pinus brutia'' is a medium-size tree, reaching tall with a trunk diameter of up to , exceptionally . The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

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, slender, mostly long, bright green to slightly yellowish green. The cones are stout, heavy and hard, long and broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy red-brown when 24 months old. They open slowly over the next year or two to release the seeds, opening to broad. The seeds are long, with a wing, and are mainly wind- dispersed. File:Escorça de pi de Calàbria (Pinus brutia), jardí botànic de València.JPG, Bark File:Pinus brutia - cones - Flickr - S. Rae.jpg, Cone File:Pinus brutia - Flowers 03.jpg, Flowers File:Pinus brutia foliage Cyprus1.jpg, Foliage File:Pinus brutia, Findikli 0.jpg, Tree

Varieties

Turkish pine is closely related to

Aleppo pine ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. Description ''Pinus halepensis'' is a small to medium-sized tree, tall, with a trunk diameter up to , exce ...

, Canary Island pine, and Maritime pine, which all share many features with it. Some authors have treated it as a subspecies of Aleppo pine, but it is usually regarded as a distinct species. It is a moderately variable species, and the following subspecies and varieties are named: The Eldar pine is treated as a species (''Pinus eldarica'') by some authors; it is adapted to a drier climate with a summer rainfall peak, whereas var. ''brutia'', var. ''pityusa'', and var. ''pendulifolia'' are adapted to a climate with mainly winter rainfall.

Taxonomy

Italian botanist Michele Tenore described the species in 1811.

Distribution and habitat

The bulk of its range is in Turkey, but it also extends to southeasternmost Bulgaria, the East Aegean Islands of Aegean Sea, Crete, Crimea, Iran, Georgia, Azerbaijan, northern Iraq, western Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus. It generally occurs at low altitudes, mostly from sea level to , up to in the south of its range.

Ecology

''Pinus brutia'' is a diagnostic species of the vegetation class ''Pinetea halepensis''. The Krüper's nuthatch, a rare nuthatch, is largely restricted to forests of Turkish pine and depends heavily on it for feeding; the ranges of the two species are largely coincident. ''P. brutia'' is resistant to the Israeli pine bast scale insect '' Matsucoccus josephi'' and is a major host for '' Thaumetopoea'' caterpillars. The species covers in Cyprus, roughly ~90% of all woodland coverage on the island. It forms

ectomycorrhizal An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobi ...

associations with numerous species of fungi, and its logs and branches are excellent substrates for many kinds of decomposing organisms.

Uses

Tree on a mountain - from monastry of Semen Stolbnik near Aleppo - Syria

Honey

Turkish pine is host to a sap-sucking aphid ''

Marchalina hellenica ''Marchalina hellenica'' is a scale insect that lives in the eastern Mediterranean region, mainly in Greece and Turkey. It is an invasive species in Melbourne, Australia. It lives by sucking the sap of pine trees, mainly the Turkish Pine (''Pinu ...

''. Under normal circumstances, this insect does no significant damage to the pine, but is of great importance for the excess sugar it secretes. This sugar, " honeydew", is collected by honey bees which make it into a richly flavoured and valuable honey, "

pine honey Pine honey (; tr, çam balı) is a type of honey#Honeydew honey, honeydew honey. It is a sweet and spicy honey, with some woody notes, a resinous fragrance and dark amber color. It is a common Turkish cuisine#Breakfast, breakfast dish in Turkey an ...

" (Turkish, ''çam balı''), with reputed medicinal benefits.

Landmark

The " Lone Pine", a prominent landmark tree at an ANZAC First World War battle at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

, was this species. Cones from the battlefield were taken home to Australia, and plants sourced from the seeds were planted as living memorials. "Lone Pine" memorials, based on cones brought back from Gallipoli, may use this species or

. Some memorials utilise other species altogether.

Forestry

It is widely planted for timber, both in its native area (it is the most important tree in forestry in Turkey and Cyprus) and elsewhere in the Mediterranean region east to Pakistan. The timber is used for many purposes including carpentry, industry, general constructions, firewood and pulp. In Israel it is sometimes preferred to the wider-used '' Pinus halepensis'' (Aleppo pine) because of its resistance to ''Matsucoccus josephi''. It is also known for being well suited to recreational sites.

Cultivation

''Pinus brutia'' is a popular

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, extensively planted in parks and gardens in hot dry areas (such as southern California, Utah, New Mexico and Nevada, as well as throughout Arizona and central Texas in the United States), where its considerable heat and drought tolerance is highly valued. The subspecies ''eldarica'' is the most drought tolerant form, used in Afghanistan, Iran and more recently in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. In this region, ''P. brutia'' subsp. ''eldarica'' is referred to as "Eldarica pine", "Afghan pine" or "Mondell pine" (after Mondell Bennett, a commercial tree grower in New Mexico who popularized the species starting in 1969).

References

External links

Photos of trees in Turkey (''scroll down page'')Conifers Around the World: ''Pinus brutia'' – Calabrian pine

''Pinus brutia''
- distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) {{Authority control brutia Trees of Western Asia Flora of Azerbaijan Flora of Bulgaria Flora of Georgia (country) Flora of Greece Trees of Mediterranean climate Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Europe Drought-tolerant trees Ornamental trees Natural history of Anatolia Flora of the Mediterranean Basin