Pinus dalatensis

Pinus dalatensis, also known as Vietnamese white pine or Dalat pine, is a species of pine endemic to Indochina. In Vietnam it grows in the mountains of the central and south-central parts of the country at elevations of. Only recently confirmed from Laos, the population located within the Nakai-Nam Theun [Biodiversity Conservation Area] is the largest, at the lowest elevation, and the northernmost of the known populations of P. dalatensis.

Description

Pinus dalatensis is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to tall. It is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves are in fascicles of five, with a deciduous sheath. The needles are finely serrated, and 5–14 cm long.
The cones are slender, long and broad, opening to broad; the scales are thin and flexible. The seeds are small, long, and have a long slender wing long. It is most closely related to the blue pine Pinus wallichiana from the Himalaya.

Subspecies

It is divided into two subspecies:

Pinus dalatensis subsp. dalatensis. Da Lat region, between 11°50'N and 12°30'N. Cones 6–17 cm long.
Pinus dalatensis subsp. procera Businský. Central Vietnam, between 15°00'N and 16°20'N. Cones 13–23 cm long.