Korean cedar

By analogy with closely related Siberian cedar ( Siberian pine cedar), the Russian language has long been called cedar, although in fact both of these trees belong to the genus Pine , not Cedar , that is, they are closer relatives of ordinary pine than real cedars - Lebanese , Atlas and Himalayan .

Taxonomy

Pinus koraiensis Siebold & Zucc. , Flora Japonica 2:28, t. 116. 1842

Synonyms

A tall tree is up to 40-50 m tall, in diameter it can reach 1.5-2 m, the volume of wood of the stem is up to 15-17 m³. The bark is brownish-gray with a reddish tint, peeling, rather thin. The crown is developed, dense, cone-shaped or round-ovate in young trees, oblong-cylindrical or inverted-conical in old trees, and often overworked in mature trees. The root system is characterized by underdeveloped core and numerous lateral roots that lie in the soil no deeper than 1 m. The trees are wind-resistant. Over the years, it becomes photophilous, needs fresh, fertile, but not waterlogged soil.

Young shoots are thin, densely pubescent with red hairs. Cedar needles are bluish-green, trihedral, long (7–20 cm) with a width of 1–1.5 mm, with rough-jagged ribs. The needles are collected in bundles of five needles, on the branches they last from two to four years (changes every 4-6 years ^[4] ).

Monoecious plant . Male spikelets are yellow, female cones are reddish-purple. "Blossoms" in May - early June. Cones ripen at the end of August - October the next year after “flowering”, large, up to 17 cm long, up to 8 cm or more wide, elongated ovate, do not open when ripe. As a rule, after ripening in the fall or at the beginning of winter, they fall together with the seeds. Each cone contains many nuts (cedar seeds); seeds are obovate, 14-18 mm long with a width of 8-10 mm, with a thick woody peel, wingless, of various shapes and sizes. One tree can produce about 500 cones; in a lump of average size from 130 to 150 "nuts". On young cedars, cones and seeds are significantly larger than on old and overripe ones, at the same time, the number of cones on young trees is less than on old ones. This is partly due to the fact that, unlike the Siberian cedar pine, in Korean pine, cones grow in a "bunch" only on the top of the tree and less often on the top branches adjacent to the top of the pine. Old trees often have several trunks and peaks.

Abundant seed yields occur every three to four years. Under natural conditions, cedars begin to bear fruit from 60–120 years, and in cultures and in good light, from 20–30 years. Usually lives up to 350-400 years, but 500-year-old specimens are often found, and sometimes even older.

In the Russian Far East, characterized by a large variety of forests, cedar-broad-leaved forests, the main species of which is Korean cedar, are of the greatest value. These forests are the food supply and habitat of various species of game animals and birds, they are distinguished by a unique set of medicinal plants, including lemongrass , ginseng , zamanuha , eleutherococcus , etc. Unfortunately, the area of ​​cedar forests is very limited, and has significantly decreased . Pure cedar forests are almost never found, mainly cedar pine grows in mixed coniferous-deciduous forests with varying degrees of density. Forests with cedar make up only about 3% of the forest area of ​​the Far East.

Although it bears the species epithet “Korean,” its main range is in Primorye, Amur Region, and adjacent regions of northeastern China. It grows on the peninsula of Korea, in Japan - in the mountains of Honshu Island.

Describing the range of Korean cedar in Russia , it should be noted that along the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan and the Tatar Strait it stretches to the northeast, while along the eastern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin, with a strip width of 40 to 100 km, it reaches the forests of the Vaninsky district of the region inclusive. From the southern tip of Sikhote-Alin along its western slopes, the range of Korean cedar extends to Sofiysk located on the Amur . In the central, highlands of Sikhote-Alin, Korean cedar does not grow. From Sofiysk, the border of the range sharply turns to the southwest and reaches the Bureya ridge , to the west of which the Korean cedar is very rare, and never occurs in the lower reaches of the Bureya .

Within the specified Russian range, Korean cedar grows selectively. In the valleys of the Amur and Ussuri and in the uremas of their tributaries is rare and in small quantities. It does not rise high in the mountains - on the southern slopes of Sikhote-Alin it is not possible to meet it above 750 m above sea level, on the northern slopes it does not rise above 600 m.

Korean pine is a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens in cold climates , such as eastern Canada and the northeastern United States , as it can withstand frosts down to −50 ° C. This is one of the most beautiful trees in the south of the Far East, widely used for artificial plantings. Forestry enterprises grow seedlings, which are then transplanted to settlements. ^[four]

Valuable walnut tree: average yield of 50 kg / ha, maximum - 500 kg / ha, oil yield of 14% ^[5] .

Wood has useful properties; pathogens do not survive in cedar air. In cabinets from Korean pine, moth does not start; in kreins , milk does not turn sour ^[4] .

In folk medicine, needles are used as a vitamin and restorative agent, as an antiseptic , diuretic , diaphoretic, expectorant , anti- scurvy agent, to restore strength after serious illnesses and operations, and for cardiovascular diseases . A decoction of needles strengthens the gums and teeth, coniferous baths are used for pain in joints and skin diseases. The broth is used for inhalation in diseases of the respiratory system .

Kernels are used in Chinese medicine as a firming and tonic. The use of nut kernels prevents the development of vascular sclerosis , normalizes blood pressure, and improves immunity .

The composition of drugs used in the treatment of liver and kidneys may include essential oil obtained from the needles of Korean pine ^[4] .

A study of Korean plantations of pine by university experts showed that trees do not survive in the conditions of environmental pollution ( exhaust gases ). It was concluded that it is necessary to improve the environmental situation (to bring the transit flow outside the city, build bicycle paths , etc.); and stop planting this tree near roads and other places where they do not survive, and where they do not fulfill their purpose - to improve the environment.

The state of plantations of Korean pine can be used as an indicator of the degree of environmental pollution.

Human economic activity has led to a reduction in the number of trees, and reforestation is not carried out in the Amur Region ^[3] . For example, only in 2003 a permit was officially issued for the harvesting of 134.9 thousand cubic meters of Korean pine, but twice as much was actually cut down ^[4] . In the past, cut cedars and their companions were sold abroad, first primarily to Japan, and later to China. In 2010, a ban was introduced on cutting this type of pine. In 2013, the export of Korean cedar abroad completely stopped ^[6] . The disappearance of Korean pine is directly related to the general process of deforestation in the Russian Far East, the deforestation of cedar-deciduous forests. The main contribution to the felling is made by Chinese companies that have already managed to cut down forests in the PRC so that now, due to an unfavorable environmental situation, tree felling is prohibited there at all ^[7] . Mostly raw timber is exported ^[8] , and the citizens of the PRC are engaged in harvesting (which does not create jobs for local residents; the previously existing timber enterprises went bankrupt ^[9] ). Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has supported its entrepreneurs and has been actively encouraging logging in the Russian Federation as a way to export labor and increase the size of its diaspora , which populates the sparsely populated and endangered regions of the Russian Far East .

There is no data on any reforestation work carried out by Chinese companies.

Attempts by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) ^{[10] [11]} and other organizations, regional authorities to protect forests from barbaric deforestation - were unsuccessful.

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• Korean "Cedar" on the website of the Botanical Garden Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences