Description

Leaves: Needles in bundles of 2; 1-1/2" to 3" long; stiff; medium green; evergreen, remain on tree 5 or more years.

Twigs/buds: Green during first year, turning brown or blackish-brown, hairless; short, oblong to egg-shaped; prominently ridged and grooved.  Buds reddish-brown; cylindrical, resinous; scales pressed close to twigs.

Flowers/fruit: Monoecious.  Fruit a woody cone; 1" to 2" long; ovoid, with an uneven base; no spine on the tips of the scales; little or no stalk; gray-black when mature.

Bark: Scaly; gray-brown; not orange on upper trunk like Pinus sylvestris.

Wood: Unimportant; undesirable for timber due to its shrubby habit; used for firewood; little information available.

General: A shrubby tree native to mountains of central and southern Europe.  Tough and tolerant of a variety of conditions, including cold, alkaline-soils, and some drought.  Shade intolerant.

Landscape Use: A very common shrub planted throughout Utah, though some varieties can get quite large and almost tree-like.  Usually used in mass plantings and rarely planted with enough room for its eventual size.  If planting in a small area be sure to use true dwarf cultivars.  Zones 2-8.

Cultivars: 'Amber Gold', 'Aurea', 'Gnom', 'Mops', var. mugo, 'Ophir', var. pumilo, 'Sherwood Compact', 'Slavinii', var. uncinata, 'Valley Cushion'.

Characteristics