Abstract

Pines, usually tall and stout trees and less often shrubs, have evergreen foliage leaves in the shape of needles and contain resin in their bark. Pines are monoicus woody plants growing naturally or being naturalized in both hemispheres, mainly distributed over the northern hemisphere, but also occurring in subtropical and tropical regions of Central America and Asia, dominating forests or coexisting with other conifers (Farjon 1984; Gaussen et al. 1993). Pines have received much attention due to their ecological importance as a major component of many temperate forests and their economic significance as a source of timber, pulp and paper, nuts, seeds, resin, construction materials, and other products (Richardson and Rundel 1998).