BLUE PINE IN PAKISTAN 161 



uprooting the whole tree. The species is also very sensitive to fire, 

 even large trees often succumbing. 



.Among fungus pests of blue pine, Fomes pini (Thore) Lloyd is the most 

 important. This pathogen has been found most commonly in forests of the 

 mesic habitat (Khan, 1960). Its attack results in the rotting and 

 disintegration of the heart wood. Sporophores appear on the stems or on 

 exposed roots at points where some injury has occurred. According to 

 Troup (1921) , lopping of branches for fodder and fuel is the most 

 important cause of the spread of the disease. 



Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch. ex Rabenh. is a severe stem rust 

 of blue pine. Mostly it attacks seedlings and saplings from 3 to 10 years 

 of age. Fortunately, it is found only rarely, and hence is of little 

 economic importance. Ahmad (1956) collected it from Shogran in the 

 Hazara district of West Pakistan. 



A number of other fungus disease which occur rarely on blue pine of 

 West Pakistan have been listed by Khan (1960): 



1. Lophodermium pini -ex eels ae Ahmad, causes needle cast in moist 

 and shady localities. 



2. Dasysoypha fus cos anguine a Rehm. emend. Hoenzel , sporadically kills 

 young plants of blue pine in Kagan valley of the Hazara district. 



3. Cenangium ferruginosum Fries, kills young blue pine plants about 

 10 years old, in moist localities. 



4. Fomes annosus (Fr.) Cke., confined to moist localities only, 

 causes a serious root rot once established in conifers. 



5. Fomes pinicola (Swartz) Cke., occurs mainly on dead wood, but 



as a wound parasite, it has been seen on weakened living trees in Murree, 

 Hazara, and Azad Kashmir. 



Blue pine in West Pakistan is also liable to be attacked by a large 

 number of insect pests. Again the attack is never widespread or severe 

 enough to cause alarm. The beetles and larvae of Hylobius angustus 

 Faust damage samplings. The larvae of the moths Dioryotria abietella 

 Schiff and Euzopnora aedrella Hampson bore in green cones. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Ahmad, S. 1956. Fungi of West Pakistan. Biol. Soc. Pak. Biol. Lab. 



Govt. College Lahore. Monogr. 1. 125 p. 

 Ahmad, K. S., and M. L. Khan. 1960. Variations of moisture types and 



their bearing on soil erosion in West Pakistan, p. 63-77. In Proc. 



Symp. on soil erosion and its control in the arid and semi-arid 



zones. Food and Agriculture Council of Pakistan, Karachi. 400 p. 

 Champion, H. G. , P. N. Suri , and I. D. Mahendru. 1929. Yield tables 



for blue pine. Indian Forest Rec. (Silvi. Series) 13. 29 p. 

 Critchfield, W. B. , and E. L. Little. 1966. Geographic distribution of 



the pines of the world. U.S. Dep . Agric. , Forest Serv. Misc. Publ . 



991. 97 p. 

 Khan, A. H. 1960. Fungi occuring on Pinus in Pakistan. Phytopathol. 



et Mycol. Appl . 13: 302-320. 



