The new spring shoots are sometimes called "candles" they are covered in brown or whitish bud scales and point upward at first, then later turn green and spread outward. The spiral growth of branches, needles, and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. Many pines are uninodal, producing just one such whorl of branches each year, from buds at the tip of the year's new shoot, but others are multinodal, producing two or more whorls of branches per year. The branches are produced in regular "pseudo whorls", actually a very tight spiral but appearing like a ring of branches arising from the same point. The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaking bark. The longest-lived is the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva, one individual of which, at around 4,800 years old, is one of the world's oldest living organisms. Pines are long-lived, typically reaching ages of 100-1,000 years, some even more. The smallest are Siberian Dwarf Pine and Potosi Pinyon, and the tallest Sugar Pine. The highest diversity in the genus occurs in Mexico and California.Pines have been introduced in subtropical and temperate portions of the Southern Hemisphere, including Chile, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand, where they are grown widely as a source of timber, and some species are becoming invasive.MorphologyPines are evergreen, resinous trees (or rarely shrubs) growing 3-80 m tall, with the majority of species reaching 15-45 m tall. In North America, they range from 66°N in Canada (Jack Pine and Red Pine), south to 12°N in Nicaragua (Caribbean Pine). In Eurasia, they range from the Canary Islands, Iberian Peninsula and Scotland east to the Russian Far East, and in the Philippines, north to just over 70°N in Norway, Finland and Sweden (Scots Pine) and eastern Siberia (Siberian Dwarf Pine), and south to northernmost Africa, the Himalaya and Southeast Asia, with one species (Sumatran Pine) just crossing the Equator in Sumatra to 2°S. The Old Norse name is still used for pines in some modern north European languages, in Danish, fyr, in Norwegian fura/fure/furu, Swedish, furu, and Föhre in German, but in modern English, fir is now restricted to Fir (Abies) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga).Taxonomy, nomenclature & codificationThis section requires expansion.Further information: Pinus classification DistributionPine forests overlooking Beirut, Lebanon Stone Pine Pinus pinea in a Rome (Italy) streetPines are native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. In the past (pre-19th century) they were often known as fir, from Old Norse fyrre, by way of Middle English firre. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.Contents 1 Etymology2 Taxonomy, nomenclature & codification3 Distribution4 Morphology 4.1 Foliage4.2 Cones5 Classification6 Ecology7 Uses 7.1 Food uses8 See also9 Notes10 References11 Bibliography12 External linksEtymologyThe modern English name pine derives from Latin pinusby way of French pin similar names are used in other Romance languages. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. Pines are trees in the genus Pinus(pronounced /ˈ paɪnəs/), in the family Pinaceae.
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