BLUE PINE IN THE HIMALAYAS 171 



Blue pine trees in open forests bear large spreading crowns. But 

 in a dense, even-aged crop, the crowns may be conical or truncated. Tall, 

 conical trees ending into leader shoots grow under open canopies of dense 

 fir and spruce forests. Tall trees with truncated crowns were also 

 observed growing in regions of heavy snowfall on ski-slopes of Kufri near 

 Simla. Snow injury to the leader shoots may perhaps be responsible in 

 giving these shapes to the trees. 



Isolated trees growing on grassy slopes or on sites where forests 

 have previously been removed usually show unbranched, lopped, or clean 

 boles and small rounded or conical crowns. These trees are not wind- 

 hardy and I have observed that they break down during wind storms . The 

 crowns of these trees disperse seeds over large areas. 



The few dwarf trees observed on mountain tops may be stunted due to 

 sub-alpine effect but these trees are not typical moist upper level blue 

 pine trees, which, in general, show good heights. 



Trees growing in bright sun show excellent heights and bright blue- 

 green and glaucous foliage. The needles are comparatively shorter and 

 stiff er than those of trees growing in deep shade. Flowering and seed 

 production is most abundant on these trees. The trees growing under deep 

 shade are shorter and have loose branches, drooping foliage and flexible 

 needles. The blue pine, therefore, is a light -demanding species. 



Flowering, Pollination and Seed-Set 



Most trees of the moist upper-level pine produce abundant flowers, 

 long cones and highly fertile seeds starting at an early age. Some trees 

 start flowering when 10 to 12 years old but 18 to 20 years is the normal 

 age of good flowering. Flowering and pollination taxe place in the first 

 half of May about 7 to 10 days later than in moist lower level pine 

 growing at 4,000 feet elevation. 



Annual production of abundant cones and highly fertile seed was 

 observed on many trees between 1954 and 1965. Bumper seed crop years 

 were observed at 2 to 3 year intervals. These bumper crops are more 

 frequent in the blue pine than in any other Himalayan conifer. The amount 

 of seeds produced during these periods is remarkable. Production of 

 abundant seed, their efficient dispersal from the cones during November 

 and December, protection on the ground by snow, and the high adaptability 

 that the seedlings show to all types of soil makes possible rapid 

 colonization of new areas by P. wallichiana. 



DRY LOW-LEVEL NON-MONSOON ZONE BLUE PINE 



The trees grown in open formations and in pure or mixed species stands 

 mainly with Cedrus deodara but also with Pinus gerardiana Wall., Cupressus 

 torulosa Don., Abies and Picea spp. These trees are the best in the dry zone 



Habitat and Soil 



These blue pine forests are found on sedimentary and scree deposits 

 of schists, granite, and alluvia and grow best on flood plain deposits of 

 mica-schists and fine grained moist soil on steep mountain sides or in 

 high valleys (9,000 to 10,500 feet). In Kashmir valley the trees prefer 

 the Karewa formation of thick lacustrine deposits and in Kinnaur they 



