Originally a native tree. Pollen found in soil samples from bogs indicates that Scots pine was widespread in Ireland thousands of years ago. Human impact and the gradual change to a warmer, wetter climate led to its decline, and it may even have died out completely. Pine stumps have been found in bogs, standing where they grew, 7,000 years ago, before the formation of the peat. Most of the pines around the countryside now were imported from Scotland and planted over the last 150 years. Our native red squirrel prefers the seeds of this tree than any other.
The Scots pine belongs to the genus Pinus and is a member of the Pine family (Pinaceae).
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is a conifer tree growing to over 35m and flowering May to June.
Lifespan: in the UK some of the oldest trees are over 500 years old and in Europe some are over 700 years of age.
Characteristics
Bark is scaly grey-brown with a distinctive orange-red colouration; with age, the bark becomes more plated and fissured. Buds are small, pointed and reddish-brown.
Needles are 3–8cm long, 1–2mm wide and blue-green. They grow in bunches of two on short side shoots.
Scots pine is monoecious: both male and female flowers are found on the same tree. Male flowers are clusters of yellow (occasionally crimson) anthers growing at the base of shoots. Female flowers grow at the tips of new shoots; these are small, rosy-purple and globular, with scales protruding.
The Scots pine is wind pollinated; the wind carries pollen from male to female flowers. Once pollinated the female flowers turn green and develop into mature cones during the next season. This means there will always be more than one set of cones on the tree; the younger ripening cones (green) and the older mature cones (brown). Mature cones are dull grey-brown (5–8cm); each scale has a raised knob in the centre.
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