Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris
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Britain's only native pine — orange bark in the crown, and needles in neat pairs.
A tall evergreen conifer, distinguished by blue-green needles held in pairs, and by the bark of the upper trunk and branches, which is a warm flaking orange quite unlike the grey-brown fissured bark lower down. Scots pine is Britain's only native pine. Around Dumfries it grows in shelterbelts, policy woodland and plantations, and as landmark trees on knolls and old drove roads.
Behaviour
Cones take two years to ripen and open in dry weather to release winged seed. Scots pine tolerates poor, acid, dry soils that few other trees will take. Mature open-grown pines with broad flat crowns are important for red squirrels, crossbills and, further north, capercaillie, and old pines standing alone on a skyline were often deliberately planted as waymarkers.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Pines (Pinaceae)
- Height
- Up to 35 m
- Status
- Native; Britain's only native pine
Photo by Mickaël Delcey (Silverkey), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons