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Chir Pine
Pinus roxburghii cone and needles
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Pinus Subgenus: Pinus Species: P. roxburghii
Binomial name
Pinus roxburghii Sargent

Chir Pine at Kolkata, West Bengal, India

The Chir Pine (Pinus roxburghii) named after William Roxburgh, is a pine native to the Himalaya. The range extends from northern Pakistan (North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir), across northern India (Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim) and Nepal to Bhutan. It generally occurs at lower altitudes than other pines in the Himalaya, from 500-2000 m, occasionally up to 2300 m. The other Himalayan pines are Blue Pine, Bhutan White Pine, Chinese White Pine, Chilgoza Pine and Sikang Pine.

Male cones

It is a large tree, reaching 30-50 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m, exceptionally 3 m. The bark is red-brown, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, thinner and flaky in the upper crown. The leaves are needle-like, in fascicles of three, very slender, 20-35 cm long, and distinctly yellowish green. The cones are ovoid conic, 12-24 cm long and 5-8 cm broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy chestnut-brown when 24 months old. They open slowly over the next year or so, or after being heated by a forest fire, to release the seeds, opening to 9-18 cm broad. The seeds are 8-9 mm long, with a 40 mm wing, and are wind-dispersed.

Chir Pine is closely related to Canary Island Pine, Turkish Pine and Maritime Pine, which all share many features with it. It is a relatively non-variable species, with constant morphology over the entire range.

Trunk

Female Cone

Chir pine is widely planted for timber in its native area, being one of the most important trees in forestry in northern Pakistan, India and Nepal. It is also occasionally used as an ornamental tree, planted in parks and gardens in hot dry areas, where its heat and drought tolerance is valued.

It is also tapped commercially for resin. On distillation, the resin yieds an essential oil, commonly known as turpentine, and non-volatile rosin. The proportion of rosin and turpentine oil in Chir Pine is 75% and 22% respectively with 3% losses, etc.

The turpentine is chiefly used as a solvent in pharmaceutical preparations, perfume industry, in manufacture of synthetic pine oil, disinfectants, insecticides and denaturants. It is one of the most important basic raw materials for the synthesis of terpene chemicals which are used in a wide variety of industries such as adhesives, paper and rubber, etc.

Chir Pine rosin is principally used in paper, soap, cosmetics, paint, varnish, rubber and polish industries. Besides these, other uses include, manufacture of linoleum, explosives, insecticides and disinfectants, as a flux in soldering, in brewing and in mineral beneficiation as a frothing agent.

Presently, India imports resin which is far superior in quality as well as cheaper than the indigenous one. Quality of resin depends on the pinene content. Imported resin contains 75-95% pinenes, whereas Chir Pine resin contains only about 25% pinenes.

The caterpillars of the moth Batrachedra silvatica are not known from foodplants other than the Chir Pine.

• Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Pinus roxburghii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
• Retapping Chir Pines the Environmentally Friendly Way
• Plants For A Future: Database Search Results
• Flora Indica