The name Pinus caribaea was fust used by Morelet in 1851 to refer to a species of pine in southeastern United States whose range included northern Central America, the Bahama Islands and Cuba. Later this species was separated from those in Central America, the Bahama Islands and Cuba, and identified as Pinus elliotri Engelm. The species in Central America, the Bahama Islands and Cuba retained the name Pinus caribaea. Subsequently, Pinus caribaea was separated into three varieties: caribaea, bahamensis, and hondurensis. The hondurensis variety has been the most widely introduced in plantations in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world; it grows vigorously in the various climates of the tropics and fonns more than 80% of the world's plantations listed under Pinus caribaea. Unfortunately the species is associated with poor seed production outside its native range, and all regeneration methods adopted to grow the species have not been fully satisfactory except for regeneration from seed. Latitudinal displacement resulting from the large scale introduction of the species outside its natural range has been identified as the primary cause of poor seed production of the species outside its native range. The species has recently been successfully regenerated in tissue culture, but genetic instability of roots of culture regenerated seedlings that is induced by high concentrations of exogenous auxins used in rooting remains a problem. In addition to the elevated nuclear DNA produced in tissue culture the species has ontogenetically elevated nDNA in the nuclei of the dormant embryos which upon germination migates to the cytoplasm and is metabolized. The significance of this elevated nDNA in the perpetuation of the species and its possible relation to the elevated DNA in tissue culture are discussed.