Chir pine
Topic: Natural Vegetation and Forests of India · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Natural Vegetation"
Meaning
Chir pine is a Himalayan pine that grows at about 1,500-1,750 m. It is commercially useful because it gives timber and resin (a sticky substance from the tree). In colonial times the British replaced oak forests with chir pine, partly to supply railway sleepers. Its dry needles are full of resin and catch fire easily. They now feed spring forest fires in Uttarakhand.
Example
In Garhwal and Kumaon (Uttarakhand), many hill slopes that once had oak are now covered in chir pine. These slopes see forest fires in spring.
Don't confuse with
- Deodar: also a Himalayan conifer, but it grows naturally only in the western Himalayas. It is prized for strong, rot-resistant building timber, not for resin.