Description
Pinus radiata is a coniferous evergreen tree growing to between 15–30 m (49–98 ft) in height in the wild, but up to 60 m (200 ft) in cultivation in optimum conditions, with upward pointing branches and a rounded top. The leaves ('needles') are bright green, in clusters of three (two in var. binata), slender, 8–15 cm (3.1–5.9 in) long and with a blunt tip. The cones are 7–17 cm (2.8–6.7 in) long, brown, ovoid (egg-shaped), and usually set asymmetrically on a branch, attached at an oblique angle. The bark is fissured and dark grey to brown.
It is closely related to Bishop Pine and Knobcone Pine, hybridizing readily with both species; it is distinguished from the former by needles in threes (not pairs), and from both by the cones not having a sharp spine on the scales.
The modern tree is vastly different from the native tree of Monterey. In plantations the tree is commonly planted at 3m x 3m spacing on a wide variety of landscapes from flat to moderatly steep hills.Because of selective breeding and more recently the extensive use of Growth Factor seedlings, forests planted since the 1990s are of superior wood with very straight tall trunks without the problem of twin leaders. The trees are pruned in 3 lifts so that the lower 2/3 of a mature tree is branch- ( and hence knot-) free. In its natural state, the wood is poor quality: twisted, knotty and full of sap/resin only really suitable for firewood, but the modern product is very different.
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