Habitat
- control and southern Europe; nearby Asia
- zones 4-7
Habit
and Form
- evergreen needle conifer tree, medium to large size
- generally 50' to 70', 20' to 40' wide
- pyramidal and dense when young (to 30' tall)
- with age becoming flat-topped, with spreading branches and umbrella
shape
Summer
Foliage
- needles in twos
- color in dark army green
- needles 4" to 6" long, persist 3 to 4 years
- persistent leaf bases visible after needles fall, leaving stems rough
- candles (buds) 0.5 to 1" long, light brown, resinous
Autumn
Foliage
Flowers
- male flowers yellowish, in clusters
- female flowers yellow-green
Fruit
- cones shiny yellow-brown
- 2 to 3" long, approximately 2" wide
- persists for 2 years
Bark
- on mature trees its very striking
- thick, irregular, gray-brown to silvery plates
- deep furrows dark brown
Culture
- relatively adaptable to most soils
- fairly tolerant of heat, pollution, urban conditions
- tolerant of salt
- needs full sun
Landscape
Uses
- as a specimen
- as a windbreak or screen
- as trees open up with maturity, their usefulness as a screen
diminishes
- mass plantings
- highway and seaside planting for salt-tolerance
- urban plantings
Liabilities
- Diplodia tip blight can cause shoot dieback
- pine nematode
- decline
ID
Features
- long needles in twos
- needles do not readily break when bent back on themselves
- needles sharp
- often confused with P. resinosa whose needles snap
readily and area not especially sharp to the touch
- thick, blocky, gray and brown bark
Propagation
- seed germinates without pretreatment
- cultivars grafted
Cultivars/Varieties
Most of the plants grown in the United States are listed as var. nigra
or var. austriaca. Like Pinus mugo, this plant exhibits great
natural variability. Horticulturists have expoited this diversity to select
some cultivars, a sampling of which are described below.
'Jeddeloh', 'Arnold Sentinel' and 'Pyramidalis' - These
are vegetatively propagated columnar/pyramidal forms deep bluish-green needles
and more upright branching habit. They can reach 25' tall or more.
'Hornibrookiana' - This is a dwarf, very compact mutation that grows
2' tall and wider. The needles are stiff and deep green.
