''Pinus occidentalis'', also known as the Hispaniolan pine or Hispaniola pine, (or in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: pino criollo ) is a

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

tree

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the island of Hispaniola (split between the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

and Haiti).

Ecology

It is the eponymous species of the

Hispaniolan pine forests The Hispaniolan pine forests are a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The ecoregion covers , or about 15% of the island. It lies at elevatio ...

ecosystem, in which it constitutes a majority of the biomass present. Another endemic species, the Hispaniolan crossbill (''Loxia megaplaga''), feeds almost exclusively on the cones of ''P. occidentalis''.Dod, Annabelle Stockton (1978). Aves de la República Dominicana. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

References

occidentalis Flora of the Dominican Republic Flora of Haiti Taxa named by Olof Swartz {{conifer-stub