Caribbean pine

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Species of conifer

title: "Caribbean pine" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["pinus", "pinus-taxa-by-common-names", "trees-of-the-bahamas", "trees-of-belize", "trees-of-cuba", "trees-of-el-salvador", "trees-of-guatemala", "trees-of-honduras", "trees-of-nicaragua", "trees-of-northern-america", "flora-of-the-turks-and-caicos-islands", "least-concern-flora-of-north-america"] description: "Species of conifer" topic_path: "general/pinus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_pine" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of conifer ::

| name = | image = Pinus caribaea, Candelaria, Pinar del Río, Cuba 1.jpg | image_caption = Pinus caribaea var. caribaea, Pinar del Río, Cuba | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | genus = Pinus | parent = Pinus subsect. Australes | display_parents = 3 | species = caribaea | authority = Morelet | synonyms = Pinus hondurensis Sénéclauze (but see text) | range_map = Pinus caribaea range map 1.png | range_map_caption = Natural range of Pinus caribaea

The Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea) is a hard pine species native to Central America and the northern West Indies (in Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands). It belongs to subsection Australes in subgenus Pinus. It inhabits tropical and subtropical coniferous forests such as Bahamian pineyards, in both lowland savannas and montane forests.

Taxonomy

As of 2013, the species has three accepted varieties:

  • Pinus caribaea var. caribaea – Caribbean pine, pino macho, pitch pine (Pinar del Río Province and Isla de la Juventud in western Cuba)
  • Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis (Grisebach) W.H.Barrett & Golfari – Bahamas pine, Caicos pine (The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands)
  • Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis (Sénéclauze) W.H.Barrett & Golfari – Honduras pine, Nicaragua pine (states of Quintana Roo and the Yucatán in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua). Treated a separate species, Pinus hondurensis Sénéclauze, by some authors. It differs markedly from vars. caribaea and bahamensis in having larger cones with a prominent transverse ridge on the apophyses and stouter spike-like umbo (rather than small prickles), and in the seedlings retaining glaucous single juvenile leaves for nine months to a year or more, as opposed to three to four months in the other two varieties. The seedling growth rate is also significantly faster.

Distribution

It has been proposed that the pines of Australes subsection (of which Caribbean pine is part) arrived to the Caribbean basin from the southeastern United States. Regarding the population in the Bahamas, it has been proposed that this species emigrated into the region from Florida four or five thousand years ago, long after the end of the Ice Age, as the climate became wetter. Based on fossil species assemblages it is believed that the environment on the Bahamas was much less forested and a dry savannah during the glacial maximum some 18,000 years ago when the sea level was some 120 m lower than it is today.

Paleoclimatic and genetic data have been used to propose that P. caribaea ultimately originated in Central America. According to chloroplast genetic data, P. caribaea lineages colonized the Caribbean islands from populations in Central America at least twice (one leading to Cuban populations and another leading to the populations on the Bahamas).

Fossils are known from the Pleistocene of Florida.

Ecology

Periodic wildfires play a major role in the distribution of this species; this tree regenerates quickly and aggressively, replacing broadleaf trees after fires. In zones without fires, the succession continues and the pine forest is replaced by tropical broadleaf forest. The young pines require bright sunlight to grow, and are resistant to fire once they mature.

Conservation

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, this species as a whole is considered of least concern, but two of the three varieties are considered endangered (var. caribaea) or vulnerable (var. bahamensis).

Uses

Lumber and pulpwood from this tree shipped to Florida is the main export of the Abaco Islands.

The Uverito forest in Venezuela, located between the states of Anzoátegui and Monagas, is the largest artificial forest in the world planted by man, with around 600,000 hectares of Caribbean pine forest plantations.

References

References

  1. Farjon, A.. (2013). "''Pinus caribaea''".
  2. (2013). "The Plant List: ''Pinus caribaea''". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. (2008). "The Genus ''Pinus'' L., Pines – contribution to knowledge". Acta Pruhoniciana.
  4. (1950). "The Pines of Mexico and British Honduras". Government Printer.
  5. (1964). "The natural distribution, growth and botanical variation of ''Pinus caribaea'' and its cultivation in South Africa". Annale Universiteit van Stellenbosch.
  6. (1997). "A phylogenetic analysis of the southern pines (''Pinus'' subsect. ''Australes'' Loudon): biogeographical and ecological implications". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington.
  7. (1982). "Fossil Vertebrates from the Bahamas — Introduction to the Paleontology of Bahaman Vertebrates". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology.
  8. Pregill, Gregory K.. (1982). "Fossil Vertebrates from the Bahamas — Fossil Amphibians and Reptiles from New Providence Island, Bahamas". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology.
  9. (2005). "The origin of Caribbean pine in the seasonal swamps of the Yucatán". International Journal of Plant Sciences.
  10. (2011). "Phylogeography of ''Pinus'' subsection ''Australes'' in the Caribbean Basin". Annals of Botany.
  11. Berry, Edward W.. (October 1917). "The Fossil Plants from Vero, Florida". The Journal of Geology.
  12. (1999). "Árboles y arbustos potencialmente valiosos para la restauración ecológica y la reforestación.".
  13. "Ecosystems Of The Bahamas". The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
  14. "Pinus caribaea (pino macho) description - The Gymnosperm Database".
  15. Farjon, A.. (2013). "''Pinus caribaea'' var. ''caribaea''".
  16. Sanchez, M.. (2013). "''Pinus caribaea'' var. ''bahamensis''".
  17. (1997). "Abaco Islands". P.F. Collier.

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pinuspinus-taxa-by-common-namestrees-of-the-bahamastrees-of-belizetrees-of-cubatrees-of-el-salvadortrees-of-guatemalatrees-of-hondurastrees-of-nicaraguatrees-of-northern-americaflora-of-the-turks-and-caicos-islandsleast-concern-flora-of-north-america