Species/Provenance Trials of Four Exotic Pines in Southern China

This paper reports the preliminary results of species/provenance trials established in Guangdong,Guangxi and Fujian Provinces in southern China in 1992,with 4 tropical pine species and 21 provenances which were introduced from Central America. It was found that all the species appeared to be adaptable to the local ecological conditions and significant differences existed in growth rates between and within species. Tree heights of Pinus patula var. tecunumanii,P. oocarpa,P. maximinoii and P. patula were ranked in descending order,reaching 1.62 m,1.51 m,1.37 m and 1.33 m, respectively, at 18-month age. All the four species were 5%～28% faster in height growth than a local land-race of P. elliottii used as a check lot in the trials and 62%～112% higher than that of P. massoniana,an indigenous species,on a site in Fujian Province. The trials need to be further monitored before a conclusion could be made.