Pinus sibirica, or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58ðE in the Ural Mountains east to 126ðE in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68ðN in the lower Yenisei valley, south to 45ðN in central Mongolia.
Pinus sibirica is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. They are 5âÂÂ10 cm long. Siberian pine cones are 5âÂÂ9 cm long. The 9âÂÂ12 mm long seeds have only a vestigial wing and are dispersed by spotted nutcrackers.
Siberian pine is treated as a variety or subspecies of the very similar Swiss pine (Pinus cembra) by some botanists. It differs in having slightly larger cones, and needles with three resin canals instead of two in Swiss pine.
Like other European and Asian white pines, Siberian pine is very resistant to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola). This fungal disease was accidentally introduced from Europe into North America, where it has caused severe mortality in the American native white pines in many areas, notably the closely related whitebark pine. Siberian pine is of great value for research into hybridisation and genetic modification to develop rust resistance in these species.
In the north of its range, it grows at low altitudes, typically 100âÂÂ200 m, whereas further south, it is a mountain tree, growing at 1,000-2,400 m altitude. It often reaches the alpine tree line in this area. The mature size is up to 30âÂÂ40 m height, and 1.5 m trunk diameter. Its maximum lifetime is 800âÂÂ850 years.
Siberian pine, Pinus sibirica, is a popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens where the climate is cold, such as central Canada, giving steady though not fast growth on a wide range of sites. It is very tolerant of severe winter cold, hardy down to at least âÂÂ60 ðC, and also of wind exposure.
The seeds are also harvested and sold as pine nuts, which in Russia are marketed as Cedar nuts ().
The Russian name áøñøÃÂÃÂúøù úõôà(tr. Sibirsky kedr) is usually translated in English as "Siberian cedar." References to "cedar" or "dwarf cedar" in texts translated from Russian usually refer to this tree or related pines, not to true cedars.
Pinostilbene is a stilbenoid found, along with resveratrol, in the bark of P. sibirica.