Armand pine

Description

Pinus armandii, the Armand pine or Chinese white pine, is a species of pine native to China, occurring from southern Shanxi west to southern Gansu and south to Yunnan, with outlying populations in Anhui. It grows at altitudes of 2200–3000 m in Taiwan, and it also extends a short distance into northern Burma. In Chinese it is known as "Mount Hua pine". It grows at 1,000–3,300 m altitude, with the lower altitudes mainly in the northern part of the range. It is a tree reaching 35 m (115 ft) height, with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. It is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. They are 8–20 cm (3+1⁄4–7+3⁄4 in) long. The cones are 9–22 cm (3+1⁄2–8+3⁄4 in) long and 6–8 cm (2+1⁄4–3+1⁄4 in) broad, with stout, thick scales. The seeds are large, 10–16 mm (0.39–0.63 in) long and have only a vestigial wing; they are dispersed by spotted nutcrackers.