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Pinus pumila
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<h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p>The Siberian dwarf pine is a <a href="/facts/Conifer/vDUgqxCx">coniferous</a> <a href="/facts/Evergreen/bcLptUdV">evergreen</a> shrub ranging from 1–3 metres (3–10 feet) in height, exceptionally up to 5 m (16 ft), but may have individual branches that extend further along the ground in length. In the mountains of northern Japan, it sometimes hybridizes with the related Japanese white pine (<i><a href="/facts/Pinus_parviflora/6fqFp7IC">Pinus parviflora</a></i>); these hybrids (<i>Pinus</i> × <i>hakkodensis</i>) are larger than <i>P. pumila</i>, reaching 8–10 m (26–33 ft) tall on occasion. </p> <p>The <a href="/facts/Leaves/1m6wCNTg">leaves</a> are needle-like, formed in bundles of five and are 4–6 centimeters long. The <a href="/facts/Conifer_cone/rqHh3fVu">cones</a> are 2.5–4.5cm long, with large nut-like seeds (<a href="/facts/Pine_nut/5MepFh8y">pine nuts</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="distribution">Distribution</h2> <p>The range covers the Far East, Eastern Siberia, north-east of Mongolia, north-east of China, northern Japan and Korea.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Siberian dwarf pine can be found along mountain chains, above the <a href="/facts/Tree_line/ANIlSVby">tree line</a>, where it forms dense, uninterrupted thickets; it also grows on the <a href="/facts/Headlands/1NTLt37e">headlands</a> above the Okhotsk and Bering Seas, Tatarsk and Pacific coast (the Kurils). </p><p><i>P. pumila</i> grows very slowly. It can live up to 300 and, in some instances, 1,000 years.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> In the colder conditions of Siberia, there are specimens which are 250 years old and older. </p> <h2 id="ecology">Ecology</h2> <p>The seeds are harvested and dispersed by the <a href="/facts/Spotted_nutcracker/s9CcRldt">spotted nutcracker</a> (<i>Nucifraga caryocatactes</i>). </p> <p><i>P. pumila</i> has highly flammable needles, branches, and cones and readily carries crown fires, especially where it grows continuously across local landscapes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> It has serotinous cones that release seeds following fire<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> facilitating its recovery following severe fires caused by lightning strikes and other causes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="cultivation">Cultivation</h2> <p>This plant is grown as an ornamental shrub in parks and gardens. The <a href="/facts/Cultivar/nfaLJJM3">cultivar</a> <i>P. pumila</i> 'Glauca' has gained the <a href="/facts/Royal_Horticultural_Society/QrtXmlUo">Royal Horticultural Society</a>'s <a href="/facts/Award_of_Garden_Merit/zQ4Ya8S6">Award of Garden Merit</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Pinus_pumila_%25C3%2597_P._sibirica/GQ1vtAk6"><i>Pinus pumila</i> × <i>P. sibirica</i></a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://conifersaroundtheworld.com/blog/pinus_pumila_haimatsu">Conifers Around the World: Pinus pumila - Hai-Matsu</a>.</li> <li> Media related to Pinus pumila at Wikimedia Commons</li> <li> Data related to Pinus pumila at Wikispecies</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Farjon, A. (2013). "Pinus pumila". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42405A2977712. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42405A2977712.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021. <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42405/2977712" target="_blank">https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42405/2977712</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Pinus pumila". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 18 December 2017. <a href="https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=28533" target="_blank">https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=28533</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Farjon, A. (2013). "Pinus pumila". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42405A2977712. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42405A2977712.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021. <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42405/2977712" target="_blank">https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42405/2977712</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Pinus pumila". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 18 December 2017. <a href="https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=28533" target="_blank">https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=28533</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Fukui, K.; Sone, T.; Yamagata, K.; Otsuki, Y.; Sawada, Y.; Vetrova, V.; Vyatkina, M. (2008). "Relationships between permafrost distribution and surface organic layers near Esso, central Kamchatka, Russian Far East". Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. 19 (1): 85–92. Bibcode:2008PPPr...19...85F. doi:10.1002/ppp.606. S2CID 130100766. <a href="/wiki/Permafrost_and_Periglacial_Processes" target="_blank">/wiki/Permafrost_and_Periglacial_Processes</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Piragis, Alexander (11 August 2024). "Pinus pupils (Dwarf Siberian Pine)". Gardenia. Retrieved 11 August 2024. <a href="https://www.gardenia.net/plant/pinus-pumila#:~:text=Pinus%20pumila%20(Dwarf%20Siberian%20Pine)%20is%20a%20shrubby%2C%20spreading,are%20quite%20small%2C%201%20in." target="_blank">https://www.gardenia.net/plant/pinus-pumila#:~:text=Pinus%20pumila%20(Dwarf%20Siberian%20Pine)%20is%20a%20shrubby%2C%20spreading,are%20quite%20small%2C%201%20in.</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Pinus pumila". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 18 December 2017. <a href="https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=28533" target="_blank">https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=28533</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Koropachinsky, I. Yu; Vstovskaya, T. N. (2002). Woody Plants of the Asian part of Russia (in Russian). Novosibirsk: SB RAS, Geo. <a href="/wiki/Novosibirsk" target="_blank">/wiki/Novosibirsk</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Wang, Shuo; Zheng, Xin; Du, Yang; Zhang, Guoqiang; Wang, Qianxue; Han, Daxiao; Zhang, Jili (February 2025). "Estimation of short-term vegetation recovery in post-fire Siberian Dwarf Pine (Pinus pumila) shrublands based on Sentinel-2 Data". Fire. 8 (2). MDPI: 47. doi:10.3390/fire8020047. ISSN 2571-6255. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/2/47" target="_blank">https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/2/47</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>He, Tianhua; Pausas, Juli G.; Belcher, Claire M.; Schwilk, Dylan W.; Lamont, Byron B. (May 2012). "Fire-adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous". New Phytologist. 194 (3): 751–759. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04079.x. <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04079.x" target="_blank">https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04079.x</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Wang, Shuo; Zheng, Xin; Du, Yang; Zhang, Guoqiang; Wang, Qianxue; Han, Daxiao; Zhang, Jili (February 2025). "Estimation of short-term vegetation recovery in post-fire Siberian Dwarf Pine (Pinus pumila) shrublands based on Sentinel-2 Data". Fire. 8 (2). MDPI: 47. doi:10.3390/fire8020047. ISSN 2571-6255. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/2/47" target="_blank">https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/2/47</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Zhao, Feng Jun; Shu, Li Fu; Wang, Ming Yu; Liu, Bin; Yang, Li Jun (April 2012). "Influencing factors on early vegetation restoration in burned area of Pinus pumila – Larch forest". Acta Ecologica Sinica. 32 (2): 57–61. doi:10.1016/j.chnaes.2011.12.006. ISSN 1000-0933. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1872203211000850" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1872203211000850</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"RHS Plant Selector - Pinus pumila 'Glauca'". Retrieved 6 February 2021. <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/58231/Pinus-pumila-Glauca/Details" target="_blank">https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/58231/Pinus-pumila-Glauca/Details</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>