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Pinaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Pinus koraiensis

Pinus koraiensis

Edibility
4/5
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
GrowthMedium

Pinus koraiensis is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to at least -35°c when fully dormant[2]. The climate has a summer monsoon character within proximity of the coast, but with a strong continental influence further inland. Temperature extremes can range from plus 37°c to minus 45°c within its natural range[3]. Pine species in general require a sunny position if they are to grow well and, whilst the different species have their own soil preferences, most will thrive in a light well-drained sandy or gravelly loam[4, 5]. Dislikes poorly drained moorland soils[4]. Established plants tolerate drought[2]. This species prefers a cool moist climate[6]. This species is sometimes cultivated for its edible seed, there are some named varieties[7]. It is one of the main species utilized for its edible seeds[2], being gathered from cultivated and wild trees. Large quantities of the seeds are exported as a food crop from northern China[7]. The seed cones are 9 - 11cm long and 5 - 6cm wide. They take two growing seasons to mature and remain closed on the tree and even after falling from the tree. This is one of several species of pine that depend upon a mutualistic relationship with a species of bird (in this case the Spotted Nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes) to disperse its seed. The birds have powerfull beaks which enable them to extricate the seeds and crack the shells. They store many of the seeds at some distance from the parent plant - some of these seeds never get eaten and can germinate and grow into new trees[8]. Cultivated plants bear cones when they are 3.5 metres tall in Cornwall, southwest England[9]. Trees are slow growing when young[5, 6]. Growth in the south-east of Britain is generally poor but trees in the west and north are healthy and growing well with average annual height increases of around 25cm and girth increases of 3cm or more[10]. Plants are strongly outbreeding, self-fertilized seed usually grows poorly[2]. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus[2]. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[2].

Propagation

It is best to sow the seed in individual pots in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe if this is possible otherwise in late winter. A short stratification of 6 weeks at 4°c can improve the germination of stored seed[11]. Plant seedlings out into their permanent positions as soon as possible and protect them for their first winter or two[5]. Plants have a very sparse root system and the sooner they are planted into their permanent positions the better they will grow[PFAF]. Trees should be planted into their permanent positions when they are quite small, between 30 and 90cm[2]. We actually plant them out when they are about 5 - 10cm tall. So long as they are given a very good weed-excluding mulch they establish very well[PFAF]. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance[2]. Cuttings. This method only works when taken from very young trees less than 10 years old. Use single leaf fascicles with the base of the short shoot. Disbudding the shoots some weeks before taking the cuttings can help. Cuttings are normally slow to grow away[6]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Pinus+koraiensis>

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]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.
  3. [3]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.
  4. [4]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  5. [5]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  6. [6]Conifers. — Rushforth. K. · Christopher Helm · 1987 · ISBN 0-7470-2801-X ↩︎Deals with conifers that can be grown outdoors in Britain. Good notes on cultivation and a few bits about plant uses.
  7. [7]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  8. [8]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
  9. [9]Trees and Shrubs in Cornwall. — Thurston. ↩︎Trees and shrubs that succeed in Cornwall based on the authors own observations. Good but rather dated.
  10. [10]Conifers in the British Isles. — Mitchell. A. F. · HMSO · 1975 · ISBN 0-11-710012-9 ↩︎A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.
  11. [11]Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. — McMillan-Browse. P. · Grower Books · 1985 · ISBN 0-901361-21-6 ↩︎Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.
  12. [12]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  13. [13]The Plantsman. Vol. 2. 1980 - 1981. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1980 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants including Billardiera spp, Calochortus spp, Drimys spp.
  14. [14]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  15. [15]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]Nuts. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.
  17. [17]Wild Food Plants in South Korea; Market Presence, New Crops, and Exports to the United States — Pemberton R.W. & Nam Sook Lee · 1996 · http://www.jstor.org/stable/4255805 ↩︎
  18. [18]Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea — World Health Organisation, Manila · 1998 · ISBN 92 9061 120 0 ↩︎An excellent book with terse details about the medicinal uses of the plants with references to scientific trials. All plants are described, illustrated and brief details of habitats given.
  19. [19]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  20. [20]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  21. [21]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.
  22. [22]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  23. [23]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.
  24. [24]Vegetable Gums and Resins. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · ISBN 81-88818-17-8 ↩︎A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.
  25. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎