Pinus gerardiana, commonly known as the chilghoza pine or neja is a pine native to the northwestern Himalayas in Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Waziristan and northwestern India, growing at elevations of . It often occurs in association with Cedrus deodara and Pinus wallichiana. Description The trees are tall with usually deep, wide and open crowns with long, erect branches. However, crowns are narrower and shallower in dense forests. The bark is very flaky, peeling to reveal light greyish-green patches. The branchlets are smooth and olive-green. The leaves are needle-like, in groups of three, long, and spread stiffly. They are glossy green on the outer surface, with blue-green stomatal lines on the inner face; their sheaths fall in the first year. The cones are long and wide when open, with wrinkled, reflexed apophyses and an umbo curved inward at the base. The seeds (pine nuts) are long and broad, with a thin shell and a rudimentary wing. Similar species P. gerardiana is similar to the closely related lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana), another pine with flaking bark. However, P. gerardiana has denser, longer, and more slender needles, as well as larger cones than P. bungeana. Taxonomy The scientific name commemorates Captain Patrick Gerard, a British army officer of the Bengal Native Infantry who collected it during a 1823–25 military survey in India. Distribution and habitat P. gerardiana is native to Afghanistan, Tibet in China, Jammu-Kashmir in India, and Pakistan. Since it grows at high, mountainous altitudes, it inhabits valley floors in between high mountain ranges in the Himalayas, tending to grow among open vegetation on dry, sunny slopes. Conservation In 2011, this species was listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It was previously listed as Lower Risk/near threatened in 1998. P. gerardina forests have declined by an estimated 30% due to conversion of pine forests to farmland, intensive grazing, and overharvesting of the seed cones and timber for firewood. The Himachal Pradesh State Forest Department has tried artificial regeneration of chilgoza pine at many places. However, performance of seedlings was found to be very poor. Ecology Since their seeds do not have a wing capable of enabling effective dispersal by wind, the seeds of P. gerardiana are dispersed by birds. The Eurasian nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes subsp. multipunctata) is one such species that does so. P. gerardiana is also a secondary host for Himalayan dwarf mistletoe. Uses Older