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Pinus caribaea
Pinaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Pinus caribaea

Pinus caribaea

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The wood, sawdust and resins from various species of pine can cause dermatitis in sensitive people[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthFast

Pinus caribaea is a plant of the moist tropics where it is found at elevations from near sea level to 1,500 metres[2]. It grows in areas where the mean annual temperature is in the range 22 - 37°c, and the mean annual rainfall is 1,000 - 3,000mm[2]. It grows best in frost-free areas at elevations up to about 700 metres in more fertile sites with good subsoil drainage and an annual rainfall of 2,000 - 3,000mm[2]. Grows best in a sunny position[3]. Soils are usually loams or sandy loams, sometimes with high amounts of gravel and generally well drained[2]. It can tolerate seasonal waterlogging[3]. The tree prefers a pH in the range 5.0 - 5.5, but can tolerate a range from 4.3 - 6.5[2, 4]. It tolerates salt winds and hence may be planted near the coast[2, 3]. The tree is widely commercialised for its wood and, since the second part of the nineteenth century, has been intentionally introduced worldwide to establish forestry plantations. It is classified as an invasive species causing serious problems to natural habitats in many countries. It is a fast-growing tree that can form dense monocultures over extensive areas of land, displacing native vegetation and altering hydrology, nutrient cycling, and fire regimes[5]. A fast growing tree, generally averaging more than 1 metre increase in height per year when young[6]. Bole straightness generally improves from the subtropics towards the tropics[6]. Young plantations usually start bearing female cones when they are 3 - 4 years old but these do not produce fertile seed owing to the inadequate supply of pollen at this age, unless older plantations adjoin the site[2]. Initial spacing when growing in plantations depends on the markets for which the pine is being grown and the technique used in tending the plantation. Mechanical cultivation requires a spacing of at least 3 metres between rows, but close spacing is possible within rows. When it is grown for pulpwood, a spacing of 2 x 2 metres is used to give maximum stem production of suitable sizes in the shortest time possible without thinning[2]. Pruning is recommended to reduce fire danger, improve form, improve access within the crop, and reduce the size and frequency of knots, especially in saw logs[2]. In plantations grown for pulpwood on a short rotation of 10 - 15 years, there may be one early cleaning thinning at 3 - 4 years old to remove malformed trees, or no thinning at all[2]. Where both saw logs and pulpwood are being produced, a heavy thinning at 10 years for pulpwood may leave an open crop for logs saw harvested during the second thinning at 17 years[2]. The tree can be effectively tapped for oleoresins from when it is 10 years old and has a bole diameter of at least 20 cm[2]. An average of 25 g per tree per day of oleoresins can be tapped[2]. The tree is rated as moderately fire resistant[2]. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[7].

Propagation

Seed - germinates in 8 - 12 (max. 21) days without pre-treatment[2]. However, they are often soaked in cold water overnight, followed by 2 - 3 days of cold storage at 4 - 5°c[2]. Mechanical sifting of seed before sowing to eliminate hollow and defective seed can also improve germination considerably and make it possible to sow single seeds directly into containers instead of first sowing them in germination beds[2]. Collection of cones can start as soon as they begin to change from green to brown on the tree; collecting cones earlier that this may give seeds with short viability[2]. Seeds can be extracted from cones opened in the sun by raking them over as they lie open on the tarpaulin[2]. Seed storage behaviour is orthodox; viability is lost within 1 year in hermetic storage with seeds at room temperature with 13 ± 2% mc; no loss in viability during 2 years hermetic storage at room temperature; no loss in viability after 5 years of storage at 0 - 5°c with over 8% mc; hermetic storage at 4.5% mc recommended; about 16% viability lost after 2.7 years of hermetic storage at 8°c[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Pinus+caribaea>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]Trees Commonly Cultivated in SE Asia — Jensen. M. · FAO Regional Office, Bangkok. · 1999 · ISBN 974-89377-5-5 ↩︎
  4. [4]Tropical Tree Seed Manual — Vosso. J. Editor. · USDA Forest Service. · 2002 · http://www.rngr.net/Publications/ttsm ↩︎An extremely good guide, it can also be downloaded in its entirety from the address shown above.
  5. [5]Invasive Species Compendium — http://www.cabi.org ↩︎An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc).
  6. [6]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  7. [7]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  8. [8]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  9. [9]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
  10. [10]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  11. [11]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
  12. [12]Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. — Grae. I. · MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. · 1974 · ISBN 0-02-544950-8 ↩︎A very good and readable book on dyeing.
  13. [13]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
  14. [14]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.