Pinus kesiya - Khasi Pine

Khasi Pine is a tree reaching up to 30-35 m tall with straight, cylindrical trunk. The bark is thick, dark brown, with deep longitudinal fissures. The branches are robust, red brown from the second year, the branchlets horizontal to drooping. The leaves are needle-like, dark green, usually 3 per fascicle, 15-20 cm long, the fascicle sheath 1-2 cm long and persistent. The cones are ovoid, 5-9 cm long, often curved downwards, sometimes slightly distorted. The scales of second-year cones are dense, the umbo a little convex, sometimes acutely spinous. The scales have transverse and longitudinal ridges across the middle of the scale surface. The seeds are winged, 6-7 mm long with a 1.5-2.5 cm wing. Pollination is in mid spring, with the cones maturing 18-20 months after. Khasi pine usually grows in pure stands or mixed with broad-leaved trees, but does not form open pine forests. Khasi pine is one of the most distributed pines in Asia. Its range extends south and east from the Khasi hills in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya from where it got its name to northern Thailand, Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, southernmost China, Vietnam. The Khasi pine population are especially dense in India and Burma and quite sparse elsewhere in its natural range.