Pinus patula (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007)

Pinus patula Pinaceae Mexico

• English: Mexican weeping pine
• Amargna: Pachula

Probably the most widely planted pine in tropical Africa. It is tolerant of most soils and will grow in grassland. It grows best with good water supplies but can also survive adverse conditions. In Ethiopia it does well in Moist and Wet Weyna Dega agroclimatic zones in Shoa, Arsi, Sidamo and Kefa regions, 1,900—3,000 m.

Firewood, timber, posts, long-fiber pulp.

An evergreen tree to 35 m with light green, weeping foliage and a long straight trunk; branches more or less horizontal, turning up at the tips.

• BARK: Grey to dark brown, fairly smooth, papery red‑brown on young branches.
• LEAVES: Long slender “needles”, soft but hard tipped, 15–23 cm long, in bundles of 3.
• CONES: Female: small hard red spheres mature in 2 years to shiny brown cones, base oblique, to 10 cm long in clusters of 2–5 without stalks. Male: on the same tree, short terminal catkins, yellow-brown, producing clouds of dustlike pollen. Seeds develop below the cone scales and are released over a long period.

Seedlings.

110,000–170,000 seed per kg. A large proportion of the seeds are usually empty. Germination 75—85% in 35—60 days.

• Treatment: Pines live in symbiosis with mycorrhiza fungi. Inoculation may be required. A simple method is to mix the nursery soil with a part of soil where the pine species has grown before.
• Storage: Seed can be stored.

Fast growing. Pruning and thinning for trees grown in timber plantations.

A good tree for woodlots, but it should not be grown near crops due to its shallow root system. The wood is easily worked, fairly light and soft and pale brown in colour.