Description
Pinus sibirica is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. They are 5–10 cm long. Siberian Pine cones are 5–9 cm long. The 9–12 mm long seeds have only a vestigial wing and are dispersed by Spotted Nutcrackers.
Siberian Pine is treated as a variety or subspecies of the very similar Swiss Pine (Pinus cembra) by some botanists. It differs in having slightly larger cones, and needles with three resin canals instead of two in Swiss Pine.
Like other European and Asian white pines, Siberian Pine is very resistant to White Pine Blister Rust (Cronartium ribicola). This fungal disease was accidentally introduced from Europe into North America, where it has caused severe mortality in the American native white pines in many areas, notably the closely related Whitebark Pine. Siberian Pine is of great value for research into hybridisation and genetic modification to develop rust resistance in these species.
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