Pinus kesiya

Pinus kesiya
Benguet pine in Benguet, Philippines
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Subgenus: P. subg. Pinus
Section: P. sect. Pinus
Subsection: P. subsect. Pinus
Species:
P. kesiya
Binomial name
Pinus kesiya
Royle ex Gordon (1840)
Varieties
  • Pinus kesiya var. kesiya
  • Pinus kesiya var. langbianensis (A.Chev.) Gaussen ex Bui

Pinus kesiya (Khasi pine, Benguet pine or three-needled pine) is one of the most widely distributed pines in Asia. Its range extends south and east from the Khasi Hills in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya, to northern Thailand, Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, southernmost China, and Vietnam. It is an important plantation species elsewhere in the world, including in southern Africa and South America.

The common name "Khasi pine" is from the Khasi hills in India, and "Benguet pine" is from the landlocked province of Benguet in Luzon, Philippines, where it is the dominant species of the Luzon tropical pine forests (known as saleng in Ilocano). The Benguet pine is sometimes treated as a separate species, Pinus insularis; however, the current opinion is to treat these as conspecific with P. kesiya. The city of Baguio is nicknamed "The City of Pines", as it is noted for large stands of this tree.