The Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is a pine native to the Himalaya. The range extends from northern Pakistan (North-West Frontier Province, Azad Kashmir), across northern India (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim) and Nepal to Bhutan. It generally occurs at lower altitudes than other pines in the Himalaya, from 500-2000 m, occasionally up to 2300 m. The other Himalayan pines are Blue Pine, Bhutan White Pine, Chinese White Pine, Chilgoza Pine and Sikang Pine. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Families Pinaceae, pine family Araucariaceae, araucaria family Podocarpaceae, yellow-wood family Phyllocladaceae Sciadopityaceae, umbrella-pine family Cupressaceae, cypress family Cephalotaxaceae, plum-yew family Taxaceae, yew family The Order Pinales in the Division Pinophyta, Class Pinopsida comprises all the extant conifers. ... Genera Subfamily Pinoideae     Pinus - pines (about 115 species) Subfamily Piceoideae     Picea - spruces (about 35 species) Subfamily Laricoideae     Cathaya (one species)     Larix - larches (about 14 species)     Pseudotsuga - douglas-firs (five species) Subfamily Abietoideae     Abies - firs (about 50 species)     Cedrus - cedars (two to four species)     Pseudolarix - golden larch (one species)     Keteleeria (three... Species About 115. ... There are three main subgenera of Pinus, the subgenus Strobus (White pines or soft pines), the subgenus Ducampopinus (Pinyon, Bristlecone and Lacebark pines), and the subgenus Pinus (Typical pines, or yellow or hard pines). ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Charles Sprague Sargent Charles Sprague Sargent (April 21, 1841-March 22, 1927) was an American botanist. ... Species About 115. ... The Himalaya is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. ... The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is the smallest of the four provinces of Pakistan and is home to the Pashtuns (Afghans) and various other groups. ... Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Urdu: آزاد کشمیر), is part of the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern Areas. ... Jammu and Kashmir is the northern-most state of the Republic of India, with Srinagar as its summer capital and Jammu as its winter capital. ... Himachal Pradesh, formally the Punjab Hill States, is a state in northwest India. ... Uttaranchal (उत्तरांचल) became the 27th state of the Republic of India on November 9, 2000. ... Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. ... Binomial name Pinus wallichiana A. B. Jacks. ... Binomial name Pinus bhutanica Bhutan White Pine (Pinus bhutanica) is a tree restricted to Bhutan and adjacent parts of northeast India and southwest China. ... Binomial name Pinus armandii Franch. ... Binomial name Pinus gerardiana Wall. ...

It is a large tree, reaching 30-50 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m, exceptionally 3 m. The bark is red-brown, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, thinner and flaky in the upper crown. The leaves are needle-like, in fascicles of three, very slender, 20-35 cm long, and distinctly yellowish green. The cones are ovoid conic, 12-24 cm long and 5-8 cm broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy chestnut-brown when 24 months old. They open slowly over the next year or so, or after being heated by a forest fire, to release the seeds, opening to 9-18 cm broad. The seeds are 8-9 mm long, with a 40 mm wing, and are wind-dispersed. The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... BARK (Binär Automatisk ReläKalkylator) was completed in February 1950 at a cost of 400. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... A cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta (conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. ... The Old Fire burning in the San Bernardino Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, brush fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wildland areas, but which can also consume houses or...

Chir Pine is closely related to Canary Island Pine, Turkish Pine and Maritime Pine, which all share many features with it. It is a relatively non-variable species, with constant morphology over the entire range. Binomial name Pinus canariensis The Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis) is a species in the genus Pinus, family Pinaceae. ... Binomial name Pinus brutia Tenore The Turkish Pine (Pinus brutia) is a pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. ... Binomial name Pinus pinaster The Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster) is a pine native to the western Mediterranean region. ...

Uses

Chir pine is widely planted for timber in its native area, being one of the most important trees in forestry in northern Pakistan, India and Nepal. It is also occasionally used as an ornamental tree, planted in parks and gardens in hot dry areas, where its heat and drought tolerance is valued. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Lumber. ... A decidous beech forest in Slovenia. ...

It is also tapped commercially for resin. On distillation, the resin yieds an essential oil, commonly known as turpentine, and non-volatile rosin. The proportion of rosin and turpentine oil in Chir Pine is 75% and 22% respectively with 3% losses, etc. Insect trapped in resin. ... Strathisla whisky distillery in Keith, Scotland Distillation is a means of separating liquids through differences in their vapor pressures. ... Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the complex distillation from resin obtained by trees, mainly various species of pine (Pinus). ... Rosin is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vapourise the volatile liquid terpene components. ...

The turpentine is chiefly used as a solvent in pharmaceutical preparations, perfume industry, in manufacture of synthetic pine oil, disinfectants, insecticides and denaturants. It is one of the most important basic raw materials for the synthesis of terpene chemicals which are used in a wide variety of industries such as adhesives, paper and rubber, etc. Terpenes are a class of hydrocarbons, produced by many plants, particularly conifers. ...

Chir Pine rosin is principally used in paper, soap, cosmetics, paint, varnish, rubber and polish industries. Besides these, other uses include, manufacture of linoleum, explosives, insecticides and disinfectants, as a flux in soldering, in brewing and in mineral beneficiation as a frothing agent.

Presently, India imports resin which is far superior in quality as well as cheaper than the indigenous one. Quality of resin depends on the pinene content. Imported resin contains 75-95% pinenes, whereas Chir Pine resin contains only about 25% pinenes. The chemical compound pinene is a bicyclic terpene known as a monoterpene. ...

External links

• Retapping Chir Pines the Environmentally Friendly Way