Chilgoza Benefits Uses and Culinary Delights You Should know
Chilgoza Chilgoza trees are 15–25 meters (49–82 ft), usually crowned deep, wide, and open with long, erect branches. Crowns are narrower and shallower in dense forests. The bark is very flaky, peeling to light greyish-green patches. Branchlets are smooth and olive-green. The leaves are needle-like, in groups of three, 6–10 centimeters (2.4–3.9 in) long, and stiffly spread. They possess a shiny green outer surface and bluish-green stomatal lines on the inner face; their sheaths shed in the first year. Cones 10–18 cm long, 9–11 cm wide when open with wrinkled reflexed apophyses and an umbo curved inward at the base. The seeds (pine nuts) are 17–23 millimeters (0.67–0.91 in) long and 5–7 millimeters (0.20–0.28 in) broad, with a thin shell and a rudimentary wing.[3] Chilgoza in English Similar species Chilgoza 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.[4] Taxonomy Chilgoza botanical name is named for Captain Patrick Gerard, a British army officer in the Bengal Native Infantry.[4] who gathered it during an 1823–25 military survey of India.[3] It was first described in A.B. Lambert, Descr. Pinus, ed. 3, 2: 144 bis in 1832.[2] Distribution and habitat P. gerardiana is found in Afghanistan, Tibet, China, Jammu-Kashmir, India, and Pakistan. It grows at high altitudes so it occupies valley floors between high mountain ranges in the Himalayas, and tends to increase among open vegetation on dry sunny slopes. Pinus Gerardiana Conservation Status Chilgoza species has been classified as nearly threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species published in 2011. It was Lower Risk/near threatened in 1998. P. gerardia forests have declined by an estimated 30% due to the conversion of pine forests to farmland, intensive grazing, and over-harvesting of seed cones and timber for firewood.[1] . The Himachal Pradesh State Forest Department has tried artificial regeneration of chilgoza pine in many places. However, the performance of seedlings was found to be very poor.[citation needed] Chilgoza tree Ecology Tree Since their seeds do not have a wing that can enable them to be dispersed effectively by the wind, P. gerardiana seeds are dispersed by birds.[1] One such bird is the Eurasian nutcracker, specifically the subsp. multipunctata of Nucifraga caryocatactes. [3] P. gerardiana is a secondary host to Himalayan dwarf mistletoe. [5] Uses Chilgoza Older trees that do not produce enough cones to collect pine nuts are logged as firewood. The logs are also used in local light construction and carpentry.[1] Food More about Pine nut Chilghoza seeds, or pine nuts, are harvested for consumption in the fall and early winter by knocking the cones off the trees. In some localities, they are owned by mountain clans and villages and exported to northern Indian plains markets. Under traditional harvesting, enough seeds are left behind to allow the forest to regenerate, although in areas controlled by private contractors, all cones are taken. Chilgoza pine nuts contain carbohydrates and proteins. The seeds are locally known and sold as “chilgoza”, “Neja” (singular), or “neje” (plural). Childhood is one of the most important cash crops of Afghanistan, [6][7][8] as well as of Kinnaur and Pangi Valley of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, India.[9] They are sold at around $20–$53 per kilogram in India.[citation needed] References Farjon, A. (2013). “Pinus gerardiana”. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T34189A2850009. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T34189A2850009.en. Retrieved 15 February 2023. “Pinus gerardiana Wall. ex D.Don | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science”. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 30 October 2023. Earle, Christopher J., ed. (2018). “Pinus gerardiana”. The Gymnosperm Database. Dallimore, William; Jackson, Albert Bruce (1923). “Pinus”. A handbook of Coniferae, including Ginkgoaceæ (1 ed.). New York: Longmans, Green & Co. pp. 357–470 [396–397]. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.15657. Hawksworth, Frank G.; Wiens, Delbert (April 1998). Dwarf Mistletoes. DIANE Publishing. pp. 264–265. ISBN 978-0-7881-4201-7. Retrieved 16 April 2022. ZS (6 November 2022). “Pine Nuts Export Hike Increase in World Market”. Bakhtar News Agency. Kabul, Afghanistan. Retrieved 3 January 2023. “Afghanistan Exports At Least 5,000 Tons of Pine Nuts”. TOLOnews. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023. “China largest importer of Afghan pine nuts: MoCI”. Pajhwok Afghan News. Kabul, Afghanistan. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023. “Challenge to save Chilgoza & wild mushrooms in HP”. United News of India. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2023. External links Gymnosperm Database: Pinus gerardiana Photo of chilgoza pine cone Chilgoza pine seed About chilgoza pine nuts on chilgoza.net Nuts True, or botanical nuts Chilgoza Acorn Beech American beech European beech Breadnut Candlenut Chestnut Sweet chestnut Hazelnut American hazel Beaked hazel European hazel Filbert Asian hazel Kola nut Kurrajong Malabar chestnut Palm nutted topple nutYellow walnut Drupes Almond Australian cashew nut Betel nut Borneo tallow nut Breadfruit Cashew Chilean hazel Coconut Durian Gabon nut Hickory Mockernut hickory Pecan Shagbark hickory Shellbark hickory Johnstone River almon dIrvingia gabonensis Jack nut Karuka Planted karuka Wild karuka Mongongo Panda oleosa Pekea nut Pili nut Pistachio Walnut Black walnut Butternut English walnut Heartnut Gymnosperms Chilgoza Cycad Burr awang nut Ginkgo nut Araucaria spp. Bunya nut Monkey-puzzle nut pine nut Chilgoza pine Colorado pinyon Korean pine Mexican pinyon Single-leaf pinyon Stone pine Angiosperms Brazil nut Macadamia Macadamia nut-Queensland macadamia nut Paradise nut Peanut Peanut tree Soybean
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