5. Pinus strobus L. (N-Am.) – Frequently planted as an ornamental tree in private and public gardens. Increasingly escaping from cultivation in recent times, for instance in the National Botanic Garden in Meise since 2006. Furthermore recorded in relative abundance in a former arboretum in Koekelare in 2008 and in a more or less abandoned cemetery in Roeselare in 2009. Doubtlessly overlooked or neglected elsewhere.
Several other species with leaves in bundles of 5 are cultivated. Young branches of Pinus strobus are usually covered with short reddish-brown hairs, while branches of P. peuce Griseb. and P. wallichiana A.B. Jackson are glabrous.
Pinus strobus is considered to be an invasive species, for instance, in the Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary (Richardson & Rejmánek 2004, Richardson 2006).
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Selected references:
Richardson D.M. (2006) Pinus: a model group for unlocking the secrets of alien plant invasions? Preslia 78: 375-388.
Richardson D.M. & Rejmánek M. (2004) Conifers as invasive aliens: a global survey and predictive framework. Diversity and Distributions 10(5-6): 321–331.