Abstract

Pines make up the largest genus of conifers, which includes several Pinus species that belong to the Pinaceae botanical family (Barceloux 2008). They are the dominant tree in the vast coniferous forest of the northern hemisphere. These trees have also been extensively planted in the southern hemisphere, but only the Merkus pine (Pinus merkusii) occurs there naturally, and its distribution extends poorly south of the equator. Pine trees are some of the world’s oldest-known living organisms; some bristlecone pines, native to the White Mountains of eastern central California and the Snake range of the central Nevada–Utah border in the United States, are still standing after 4600 years (Bidlack and Jansky 2011).