Pinus yunnanesis
In the Yunnan Province of China, P. yunnanensis occurs in two growth forms: as a tree (var. yunnanensis) and as a shrub (var. pygmea) [1]. The shrubby form occurs mainly in upper slopes and ridges (Fig. 1), where soils are poor and dry, and fires are likely. This shrubby pine is very interesting and quite unique among pines: it has serotinous cones (Fig. 2), and resprouts after fire from basal buds (Fig. 3), generating multi-stemmed shrubby pine populations [1]. Serotiny is common among pines [2] while resprouting is not [3], so pines with both serotiny and resprouting are rare; and having a multi-stemmed growth form is even rarer.
References
[1] Pausas JG, Su W-H, Luo C, & Shen Z. 2021. A shrubby resprouting pine with serotinous cones endemic to Southwest China. Ecology [doi | pdf]
[2] He T, Pausas JG, Belcher CM, Schwilk DW, Lamont BB. 2012. Fire-adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous. New Phytol. 194: 751-759. [doi | wiley | pdf | suppl.]
[3] Pausas, J.G. 2015. Evolutionary fire ecology: lessons learned from pines. Trends Pl. Sci. 20: 318-324. [doi | sciencedirect | cell | pdf]
Great habitat pics of Pinus yunnanense pygmea. Do you know a seed source?
Not really, but you could ask to my collaborator Zehao Shen, he may give you some advice. Please find his email address in the paper (ref [1] )