Pine Needles, Their Significance and History

Abstract

Are pine needles shoots or leaves.? The question may still be debated, since neither the shoot nor the leaf has as yet been clearly defined. A review of the morphology, development, and physiology of the "needles" may be of interest.

Effects of phenology and meteorological disturbance on litter rainfall interception for a Pinus elliottii stand in the Southeastern United States

“…Specifically, infiltration processes are expected to change with litter composition, as was found by sprinkler experiments (Guevara‐Escobar et al, ). This could have allowed the litter to retain more water in some instances (perhaps due to water pooling in the proximal area of pine cones' ovuliferous scales) and less water in other cases (perhaps water drains more rapidly along the hydrophobic cutin layers of a needleaf‐dominated litter: Dufrenoy, ; Hansel, Aoki, Maia, Cunha, & Dedecek, ). Canopy traits controlling receipt of radiation were also held constant, yet the LAI and fraction of canopy gap ( F o ) will change with phenological shifts in P. elliottii stands (Gholz & Clark, ; Gholz et al, ) and, likely, after meteorological disturbance due to downed branches.…”