152 JAVAID AHSAN AND M.I.R. KHAN 



As stated by Troup (1921) , "When growing vigorously and before 

 reaching old age, this is one of the most beautiful pines of the world, 

 its bluish drooping needles and regular growth giving it a particularly 

 graceful appearance; as it becomes old, however, it loses its graceful 

 form and tends to become ragged." The common English name given to 

 this species is "blue pine" due to its blue feathery foliage. The 

 vernacular name used for this species in Pakistan is "Kail" or "Biar". 



A number of scientific names of this species have been in vogue. Ii 

 addition to P. wallichiana A.B. Jackson, they are P. neipdlensis De Chamb; 

 P. excelsa Wall, ex Lamb;and. P. griffithii McClelland. P. wallichiana 

 A.B. Jackson in Kew Bull. 1938: 85, published in 1939, however, is the 

 latest and is accepted by the authors; all the other names have been 

 reported to be homonyms of certain other species (Raizada and Sahni, 

 1960) . 



DISTRIBUTION 



P. wallichiana A.B. Jackson has an extensive range of distribution. 

 It grows all along the Himalayas in an almost continuous range, extending 

 to eastern Afghanistan, the northeastern part of West Pakistan, northern 

 Burma, and Yunnan in China (Critchfield and Little, 1966). 



In West Pakistan (Fig. 1), a geographically more or less continuous 

 distribution occurs in the northwestern part within about 33°30'N. to 

 36°45* N. latitude and 71°0'E. to 75°30'E. longitude, covering Murree , 

 Hazara, Swat, Dir, Chitral , in addition to Skardu, Gilgit, and southern 

 part of Azad Kashmir. Besides this, the species occupies two natural 

 distribution areas widely separated from the major part of the range; 

 they are, (1) at the western boundary of West Pakistan (i.e., near 

 Parachinar, Fig. 1) and (2) the species' southwestern extremity, along 

 the Sulaiman mountain range (i.e., Takht Sulaiman, Fig. 1). Blue pine 

 near Parachinar extends from about 33°45'N. to 34°15'N. latitude and 

 69°42*E to 70°48'E. longitude within Pakistan territory; it is confluent 

 westwardly into Afghanistan. Sulaiman range forests of blue pine occur 

 from latitude 31°30'N to 31°42*N. and longitude 69°45'E. to 70°04'E. 



Altitudinal range of blue pine is from an elevation of 5,000 feet to 

 10,000 feet. In the Murree Hills, the pine first appears at about 4,000 

 feet in moist and cool northerly aspects while, on southerly aspects, it 

 starts at about 5,500 feet. In Hazara, blue pine is well represented 

 between 6,000 and 10,000 feet. In Chitral, Dir, Parachinar, and western 

 part of Swat, it occurs in cool situations in the upper parts of the 

 valleys. The pine grows in these areas due to snowfall in the winter 

 although the summer rainfall is scanty. In the Sulaiman range, the 

 sparse occurrences of blue pine are confined to ravines and easterly 

 aspects. The occurrence of blue pine in this dry tract is accounted for 

 by the presence of moisture held up in depressions or pockets in the 

 limestone formations. 



