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Pinus merkusii
Pinaceae FAMILY Vulnerable

Pinus merkusii

Pinus merkusii

Edibility
1/5
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
Growth—

Pinus merkusii is a plant of the moist tropics, where it is found at elevations from sea level up to 1,300 metres[2]. It grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,000 - 2,800mm, occasionally to 3,500mm, and the mean annual temperature is 21 - 28°c with a mean maximum temperature of the hottest month of 24 - 32°c and a mean minimum temperature of the coldest month of 18 - 24°c[2]. Pines grow naturally in South-East Asia only in strongly seasonal environments[2]. A strongly light-demanding species[2]. Tolerant of a wide range of soils, including dry sandy soils, gravely soils, red tropical loams (latosols), clay soils, alluvial soils and acid ultisols on sandstone which are often poorly drained[3, 4]. It is often found on poor quality, acid soils[5]. Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 5.5, tolerating 4 - 6.5[6]. Established plants are drought tolerant[5]. The plant is very wind tolerant[4]. This is one of several Pinus species that have a juvenile life stage. After germinating, the seedlings produce secondary foliage but the central shoot does not elongate - at this stage the plant looks more like a bunchgrass than a pine. Especially when growing in shade, the plant can remain in this juvenile stage for several years, developing a large taproot but not increasing in height. If the light levels increase (due to removal of tree cover by fire, deforestation or some other reason) then the plant commences rapid height growth[7]. Harvesting of the resin can start about 15 years after being planted out[5]. Trees can yield 3 - 4 kilos of resin a year, with some reports claiming that older trees can yield up to 30 - 60 kilos of crude gum a year[4]. Old trees can yield 30 - 60 kg of crude gum per year, producing 20 - 40 kg of pure resin and 7 - 14 kg of turpentine per year[3]. In plantations, trees reach sexual maturity when about 20 years old. They bear cones every year, although seed production varies[2]. In plantations, the first thinning is usually carried out in the 9th or 10th year, and about every 5 years thereafter. Rotation cycles of 30 years are needed for optimal timber production[2]. For the production of pulpwood, a cutting cycle of 15 years is usually practised[2]. Mycorrhizae are required for successful growth and to allow seedlings to survive in more adverse sites[2]. The prolonged 'grass stage' often present in young trees means increased weeding requirements when compared to Pinus caribaea, Pinus oocarpa and Pinus kesiya[2]. This is the southernmost occurring pine of all pines, and the only one whose natural distribution extends into the southern hemisphere[2]. Merkus pines of the Asian mainland and the Philippines differ slightly from those of Sumatra: the seedlings have a 'grass stage', the needles are slightly longer, the cones are less cylindrical, and the seeds nearly twice as heavy[2]. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[8].

Propagation

Seed - no pre-treatment is required, although germination can be sped up by soaking the seed overnight in cold water prior to sowing[2]. Seeds germinate in 8 - 21 days[2]. A germination rate of 40 - 60% may be expected[2]. After about 8 months, nursery bed grown seedlings are 20 - 25 cm tall and ready for planting into the field[2]. Successful natural regeneration is only possible where a relatively large amount of sunlight reaches the ground[2]. Only cones that have just changed their colour from green to brown should be collected and air dried[2]. Pine seeds can usually be stored for several years, provided they are kept dry, cold and in an airtight container[2]. However, seeds of this species are reported to have a rather short viability; seeds from Sumatra can be stored dry for only 1 - 2 years, and those from continental Asia for an even shorter period[2]. Propagation by tissue culture is possible. Suspensor, root tissue and hypocotyl segments of 2-week-old seedlings of P. merkusii have been used, and they all readily yield callus when cultured on a Murashige and Skoog mineral formulation supplemented with naphthalene acetic acid (0.25-0.65 ppm) and benzylamino purine (1.0-2.0 ppm)[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Pinus+merkusii>

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]Seed Leaflets — Various · Forest & Landscape. Denmark · http://en.sl.life.ku.dk/Publikationer/Udgivelser/PopulaerPublikationer.aspx?katid={D28373CC-6EF3-4EF8-B097-6D83FABF209E}&serieid={9F1C3DB1-6E7B-4CF1-AF53-F480B0CB40EF}&sort=title ↩︎A series of leaflets, jointly produced by the University of Copenhagen and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, focussing on seed information for a number species, but also giving a lot of other information about each plant.
  4. [4]Digital Compendium of Forestry Species of Cambodia — www.digitalspecies.blogspot.com; Phnom Penh · 2008 · http://www.digitalspecies.blogspot.com ↩︎A very detailed booklet, produced in PDF format on the internet, giving information on around 100 species of trees.
  5. [5]Trees of Laos and Vietnam - A Field Guide to 100 species. — Hoang Van Sam; Khamseng Nanthavong; Kessler P.J.A. · Blumea · 2004 ↩︎A detailed guide, with excellent line-drawings, to 100 of the more important trees of Laos and Vietnam. A very good work, giving lots of information about each plant. Originally published in the journal Blumea, it is available as a PDF on the Interne
  6. [6]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  7. [7]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
  8. [8]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.
  9. [9]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.
  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]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.
  12. [12]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.
  13. [13]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.
  14. [14]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.
  15. [15]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.
  16. [16]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.
  17. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎