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Article: The age of Pinus: all that's fit to print about what has been called the world's "most ecologically and economically significant tree genus.".
- Article from:
- American Forests
- Article date:
- March 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 American Forests. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Much of human history and prehistory is divided up into ages according to some great influence of the time: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Age of Reason, the Space Age. But, to varying degrees, much of human experience in North America could also be called the Pine Age. Experts have hailed Pinus as the "most ecologically and economically significant tree genus in the world." To see why, let's follow a lineage of pines down through the ages.
Pinus is the largest genus of conifer with about 110 species, 40 of which are found in the U.S. For our tour of the Pine Age, we will choose the Pinus that knows time best: Pinus longavea, the Great Basin bristlecone pine, ...