MOOL RAJ
Jammu and Kashmir is a cocooned land-mass at the northernmost extremity of the plains of Punjab which virtually touches the lower ridges of the hills and further spreads over a vast tract constituting thereby what is called the region of outer hills. Varying in heights something from 600 to 1250 above mean sea level (M.S.L) are the rugged ones, which go parallel to one another, enveloping small narrow Valleys.
Jammu region which begins from the boundaries adjoining Punjab and Himachal Pradesh across river Ravi – (Lakhanpur) stretches over the last reach of the Indo-Pak border (Poonch) in the east-west encompassing Kandi belt. From Jammu, uprising towards higher reaches of Udhampur, Kud, Patnitop on the one hand and Trikuta hills of Katra, Reasi to the northwest have the richest varieties of pines which give kaleidoscopic glimpse when viewed airily in their ambiance. These pines have tremendous importance in a variety of ways. ’ Chenab Valley prides itself for the richest forest area. It has a rare combination of inner and outer hills of ‘Shiwaliks’ ranging from 1,200 to 3,600 above mean sea level (MSL). There is a consistent rise in elevation to what is most conveniently called the middle Himalayas. The landscape and valleys with ever-flourishing vibrant, salubrious, and shimmering pines largely intermingled with fast flowing nectar-clear waters over the millennia past.
‘Chir Pine’: All the pines belong to the `gymnosperms ‘ part of the plant Kingdom having the characteristics of cones-bearing and so with Chir pine. This falls under the conferee family and lakes start from lower elevations to higher ones (4,000 to 6,000 feet) from the MSL. The chir is long-leaved pine botanically spoken as ‘Pinus roxburghii and is a large living tree with clear straight bole and thick bark as a defense against forest fire. The leaves are in bundles of three needles obscurely triquetrous, light green cones are solitary or 3-5 together and the seeds are long, compressed with membranous wings which help in their pollination as it is through wind.
Chir pines are spread over the outer hills of shiwaliks ranging from Basohli – Billawar, Udhampur, Reasi, Kalidhar, Sundarbani, Rajouri, Nowshera, and Poonch. The trees are of ample importance as far as the extraction of resin is concerned. The resin extracted from the chirs finds its immersive value after the segregation of resin and turpentine oil which is useful in many pharmaceuticals.
Chir pines are mostly prone to forest fires during summer spells due to the needles that cover the forest ground. Large chunks of chir forests are subjected to forest hazards. An idea was mooted for the collection of dry needles which found its usefulness in the manufacture of card-boards. This practice is mostly prevalent in other chair-bearing states of UP etc. This serves twin purposes: First, the forest fires shall be minimized to improve the local economy and boost cardboard manufacturing. This is unambiguously, a workable solution in averting forest fires, apart from opening new avenues for industrial uses.
Chir pines, thus have great promise in afforestation programs and are widely planted in their natural habitat. Many sites of its natural habitations are, however deficient in organic matter, water-holding capacity, nutrient availability, and micro-fauna and are lacking in almost all of the chir-bearing areas. So, it is pertinent to have necessary desirable physical and biological characteristics necessary for the plant’s growth and survival of our planted seedlings on such sites thus well suited to the site.
Blue Pines are also called ‘Pinus Walichiana’ in botanical parlance. The large majestic tree has slate-colored smooth bark with leathery young stems. Its leaves are also in bundles. Each groove has five needles which are slender, triquetrous, and glaucous on the inner faces, cones are generally 2-‘3 together on pendulous. The seeds of this species are blackish,’ and compressed. The trees catch heights from 6,000-10,000 ft from (MSL) sometimes intermingling with deodar and at places with chir pines, etc. The sapwood yields resin far superior to chir pines and its leaves are used as stuff for cushions The bark of the tree is used as slate for roofing of temporary huts and its seeds are often eaten by the local inhabitants.
Giant Himalayan Pine: This pine, unambiguously, occupies its unique placement in the Himalayan region. Deodar botanically nomenclatures as Cedrus deodar is a large tall gregarious tree, the largest and longest ever-lived tree in India renowned for its greatest beauty whose branches are horizontal and have pyramidal crowns. The tree ranges a height from 7000-8500 ft from MSL and -intermingles amongst blue pines, spruce, fir, and Moru oak. The tree is of ample importance given its timber value. The cedar oil extracted from its stumps finds multitudinous uses in our pharmaceuticals.
Chilghoza Pines: This pine is known as Pinus:gerardiana in botanical parlance and is mostly confined in the Paddar valley of Kishtwar. A cluster of such pines was spotted by the author whilst being on tour to Padder Valley in August last year.