Pinus thunbergii Parl., Pinaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 8 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Pinus thunbergiana Franco

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: hei song, ri ben hei song

English: black pine, Japanese black pine, Thunberg's pine

Japanese: kuro-matsu

Korean: haesong

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees to 30 m tall; trunk to 2 m d.b.h. in native range; bark dull gray when young, aging gray-black, rough and thick, scaly and decidous; crown broadly conical or umbrellalike; 1st-year branchlets pale brown-yellow, glabrous; winter buds silvery white, cylindric-ellipsoid or cylindric, scales fringed at margin. Needles 2 per bundle, dull green, shiny, 6-12 cm x 0.5-2 mm, rigid, stomatal lines present on all surfaces, resin canals 6-11, median, base with persistent sheath, margin serrulate. Seed cones solitary or 2 or 3 together, shortly pedunculate, brown, conical-ovoid or ovoid, 4-6 x 3-4 cm, deciduous. Seed scales ovate-elliptic; apophyses slightly swollen, obviously cross keeled; umbo slightly concave, apex blunt. Seeds obovoid-ellipsoid, 5-7 x 2-3.5 mm; wing gray-brown, 1-1.1 cm"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  "Naturally adapted to coastal conditions, it tolerates strong wind and salt spray but requires excellent drainage.  Prefers sunny conditions"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; pp. 70-71).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Japan and South Korea; also cultivated (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 5)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Fact sheet from Virginia Tech (PDF).

Additional online information about Pinus thunbergii is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Pinus thunbergii as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Pinus thunbergii may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Porcher, Michel H. 2011. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. The University of Melbourne, Australia. Online resource.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).