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Pinus oocarpa
Also called Ocote chino, Oocarpa Pine
Egg-cone pine is a large timber conifer of the pine family, native to Mexico and Central America and the national tree of Honduras. It is grown mainly for lumber and paper pulp rather than as an ornamental, and it needs a warm, sunny, well-drained site.
Pinus oocarpa is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae, a pine tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is the national tree of Honduras, where it is known as ocote. Common names include ocote chino, pino amarillo, pino avellano, Mexican yellow pine, egg-cone pine and hazelnut pine. It appears that it was the progenitor (original) species that served as the ancestor for some of the other pines of Mexico.
This species ranges from latitudes of 14° to 29° north, including western Mexico, Guatemala and the higher elevations of Honduras, El Salvador and northwestern Nicaragua. An average temperature of 15 to 24 °C (59 to 75 °F) and annual rainfall of 1,000–1,900 mm (39–75 in) are needed for best development. Preferred elevations are 900–2,400 m (3,000–7,900 ft) above sea level. In El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua it grows above 800 m (2,600 ft). Pinus oocarpa var. trifoliata grows between 2,000 and 2,400 m (6,600 and 7,900 ft) above sea level.
It is an important source of commercial lumber in Honduras and Central America. Pinus oocarpa was introduced for commercial production of wood for the paper industry: in Ecuador, Kenya, Zambia, Colombia, Bolivia, Queensland (Australia), Brazil and South Africa. Due to the amount of resin within the tree, many Central Americans will use small shavings to start cooking fires.
Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine · Arizona Pine · Chinese White Pine · Mexican White Pine · Jack pine · Turkish Pine · Lacebark Pine · Canary Islands Pine · Caribbean pine · Swiss Pine · Mexican Pinyon · Sand Pine
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pinus oocarpa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
