Maritime pine

The Maritime pine ( Pinus pinaster ), sometimes called " tree of or" , is a Conifère of the family of the Pinacées. It is sometimes confused with the Pin of Alep or the Pin of Calabria.

Its current names are: maritime pine, pine of Corte, pine mésogéen, pine of the Moors, pine of Bordeaux.

Description

It is a tree which can reach 30 m in height (in general from 20 to 30 m), which becomes ripe towards 40 or 50 years, and which can live approximately 200 years.

The bark, gray pale at the young subjects, becomes reddish then reddish-black with the wire of the age. Thick, it crack and fissures with the years.

The Aiguille S thick and rigid are grouped by two ( Géminé be ). They measure from 10 to 20 cm length, are persistent, of color dark green and luisantes.

The young trees have a rather regular, conical form. Oldest, dismantled at the base, have a houppier more dispersed, a summit irregular, rather punt and spread out.

Characteristics

reproductive bodies:

Standard d'" Inflorescence " : cone
distribution of the sexes: monoïque
Standard of pollination: anémogame
Period of flowering: April/May

seed:

Standard of “fructification”: cone
Mode of dissemination: anémochore

Habitat and distribution:

standard Habitat: wood Mediterranean sempervirents
Surface of distribution: close to the Atlantic coasts and Mediterranean

Distribution

This tree is spontaneous on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the the Mediterranean: enough common in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Morocco, one also finds it in South Africa where it is cultivated with large scales. One finds it in France in the main forest of the Moors of Gascogne (massive landais south-west), but also on the Mediterranean coast, in Brittany, the Sologne and in the the Loire Valley. The species covers currently more than 10% of French wooded surface.

It became invasive in many places.

Culture

The maritime pine, like the Pine of Scotland, pushes on the rock, in arid sands and in chalky grounds and limestones which would not be appropriate for any other plant. It will push however in an optimal acid ground way. This is why it is the most widespread species of the West of the Mediterranean basin.

The vegetation of the maritime pine is rather fast usually; it generally makes growths from 30 to 40 cm length each year.

Plant health

The fomès or Polypore of the Pine (Heterobasidion annosum) is a Champignon racinaire which causes the mortality of the maritime pine at all the ages.

Pharmacological properties

A study Slovaque appeared in May 2006 showed that the daily ingestion of 1 mg/kg of pycnogénol, a molecule extracted the bark of maritime pine, significantly reduced the symptoms of the overdrawn disorder of the attention with Hyperactivité.

Industrial exploitation

The maritime pine was exploited during more than 2000 years to collect of it the gem (an operation known as Gemmage) in the Landes of Gascogne. The gemmage disappeared today and the maritime pine is today used only for its wood.

In Aquitanian, it has not only one ecological interest (French area at the rate of the highest timbering) but also an indisputable economic weight, with 30.000 direct uses, generating a sales turnover equivalent to that of the Vins of Bordeaux.

At the time of the Forestry development, the wood of Maritime pine are sorted according to their dimension and of qualitative criteria then are divided into two categories:

the Sawlog comes from the lower part of the barrel of the tree cut out in Billon S. It will be reserved for noble uses such as wood the Sciage of Charpente or the unwinding for manufacture of Contreplaqué S

the Bois of industry are wood which are unusable as a sawlog because of their small diameter (wood of breaks or summits), certain defects (absence of straightness, nodes, slits or deteriorations by Champignon S or insects Xylophage S). They are directed towards heavy industries of Trituration and represent the raw material essential of the particle boards or paper the Pulp.

When one uses it in Firewood, one strips it before sound bark to decrease his odor of Résine which east can be very strong.

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