Khasi pine

• Timber: used in construction, as pit props, for furniture and for pulp — one of the most important planted pines of Southeast Asia
• Resin: seldom planted solely for tapping, yet its pine resin (turpentine, rosin) can be harvested; the winged seeds feed birds and squirrels
• Landscape & forestry: the pine woods around Xuân Hương Lake and the hills of Đà Lạt are the emblem of Vietnam's misty highlands; used to reforest bare hills and as windbreaks; an important plantation species in southern Africa and South America
• Culture: as 'xà nu' in Nguyễn Trung Thành's 'Rừng xà nu' the tree symbolises the people of the Central Highlands; it is inseparable from Đà Lạt's tourist landscape

Form

Evergreen conifer

Product

Timber, pulp, pine resin

Hallmark

Three needles per bundle; woody cones ripening in two years

Uses

Forestry, Đà Lạt landscape

The Khasi pine prefers good soils and a cool, misty climate, usually between 900 and 1,800 m. In Vietnam it is concentrated on the Langbian (Đà Lạt) and Di Linh plateaus, forming pure or mixed pine stands. It tolerates cold better than most tropical pines, growing on deep, well-drained ferralsols, and is commonly planted as protection and amenity forest around the lakes and hills of Đà Lạt.

A widespread Southeast Asian species with extensive plantations — not globally threatened, classified as Least Concern (LC). In Vietnam, however, natural Khasi-pine forest has shrunk through agricultural conversion and logging. Pine family (Pinaceae), genus Pinus — same family as Merkus pine.