Pinus pumila
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Pinus pumila, the Siberian dwarf pine, dwarf Siberian pine,<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /><ref name="GRIN">Template:GRIN</ref> dwarf stone pine,<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Japanese stone pine,<ref name="GRIN" /> or creeping pine,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> is a tree in the family Pinaceae native to northeastern Asia and the Japanese isles. It shares the common name creeping pine with several other plants.
Description
The Siberian dwarf pine is a coniferous evergreen shrub ranging from Template:Convert in height, exceptionally up to Template:Convert, but may have individual branches that extend further along the ground in length. In the mountains of northern Japan, it sometimes hybridizes with the related Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora); these hybrids (Pinus × hakkodensis) are larger than P. pumila, reaching Template:Convert tall on occasion.Template:Cn
The leaves are needle-like, formed in bundles of five and are 4–6 centimeters long. The cones are 2.5–4.5cm long, with large nut-like seeds (pine nuts).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Habit
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Young seed cones
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Male cones
Distribution
The range covers the Far East, Eastern Siberia, north-east of Mongolia, north-east of China, northern Japan and Korea.<ref name=GRIN/> Siberian dwarf pine can be found along mountain chains, above the tree line, where it forms dense, uninterrupted thickets; it also grows on the headlands above the Okhotsk and Bering Seas, Tatarsk and Pacific coast (the Kurils).Template:Cn
P. pumila grows very slowly. It can live up to 300 and, in some instances, 1,000 years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Ecology
The seeds are harvested and dispersed by the spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes).
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In its natural habitat, eastern Siberia
P. pumila has highly flammable needles, branches, and cones and readily carries crown fires, especially where it grows continuously across local landscapes.<ref name=wang>Template:Cite journal</ref> It has serotinous cones that release seeds following fire<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> facilitating its recovery following severe fires caused by lightning strikes and other causes.<ref name=wang/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Cultivation
This plant is grown as an ornamental shrub in parks and gardens. The cultivar P. pumila 'Glauca' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>