Common Names
Scots pine; gemeine kiefer (German); pin sauvage (French); skovfyr (Danish); tall (Swedish); sosna obyknovennaya (Russian); bel bor (Bulgarian); beli bor (Serbian); beli bor, sumski bor (Croatian). The term 'Scotch' pine is incorrect and should not be used, as these trees are not a source of that celebrated intoxicant.Taxonomic notes
Despite its huge range, it is remarkably uniform in its morphology with individual variation within populations much greater than between-population variation. Over 140 subspecies, varieties and forms have been described in what can only be considered botanical nationalism (or madness!), but only the type, var. sylvestris, var. hamata C. Steven (= subsp. hamata (Steven) Fomin), and var. mongolica Litvinov (= subsp. kulundensis Sukaczev) are now normally accepted (5); even these are barely distinguishable from each other.Far northern trees, north of about 65°N, were formerly treated as var. lapponica Hartm. but are now thought to represent polyphyletic colonization and adaptations to harsh environments across a very broad front; the variation is continuous and clinal, with no population definable (9), and the variety is no longer accepted (9, 5).
Trees from the extreme west of the range, in NW Scotland (Loch Maree area, Wester Ross), and presumably also the now-extinct Irish populations, show resin chemistry and adaptations to oceanic climates not found in the rest of the species' range. These trees are thought to have survived the ice ages on nunataks off NW Ireland and/or W Scotland, or are possibly derived from Spanish populations (10, 11, 12); as yet there has been no research as to whether this small endangered population deserves taxonomic recognition. Trees from the rest of Scotland (sometimes treated as var. scotica Schott) by contrast showed very close similarity to typical S Swedish / N German origins (10, 11, 12) and probably colonized across the (then dry) North Sea basin.
Spanish populations, sometimes treated as var. nevadensis H. Christ or var. iberica Svoboda, are genetically distinct (13) and deserve further taxonomic investigation with possible future varietal or subspecific recognition.
Description
A tree to 25-40 m tall and 0.5-1.2 m dbh. Stem straight (contorted only if lead shoot damaged when young, often by pine shoot moth Evetria turionana). The crown is variable, with a variety of shapes common in wild populations from level branches to near-fastigiate (6, 7); open ovoid-conic when young and usually eventually becoming dense, broadly domed or even flat-topped. Bark on lower stem thick, scaly-plated, grey-brown; on upper stem and branches, thin, flaking, orange-red. Branching uninodal. Shoots green at first, becoming grey-buff by the end of the first summer. Buds ovoid-conic, orange-brown, thinly to occasionally thickly covered in white resin. Leaves in fascicles of two, (2.5-) 4-6 (-9) cm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, always moderately to often strongly glaucous (the only two-leaved hard pine with blue-green or grey-green leaves - an easy pine to identify), longest on vigorous young trees (5-9 cm), short on old trees (2.5-5 cm), commonly slightly twisted, margins finely serrulate; persistent for 2-6 (-9) years; leaf sheath grey, 5-8 mm, slowly eroding to 3-4 mm by leaf senescence. Male cones 8-12 mm, yellow or pink. Cones (2.5-) 3-6 (-7.5) cm long, conic, symmetrical or nearly so, green ripening matt grey-buff to grey-green; mature in November-December, 20 months after pollination, opening from February to April and falling soon after seed shed; scales rhombic, flat to protuberant and (rarely) hooked (with a full range of variation inbetween), with a minutely mucronate dorsal umbo. Seeds black, 4-5 mm, with a 12-20 mm wing (6, 7; M P Frankis pers. obs.).Var. hamata differs mainly in resin chemistry (8). It also tends to have more pronounced hooked apophyses than the type usually does, but there is much overlap. The leaves stay a stronger blue-green in winter than the type (which often turns drab green in winter).
Var. mongolica differs in having buds more thickly coated in resin, but not all trees show this, and thickly resinous buds can also occur on the type. The foliage tends to be duller, less bluish and more grey-green, to even yellow-grey in winter.
Var. lapponica is sometimes distinguished on the basis of shorter and longer-persistent leaves (5-9 years), but its characters overlap and intergrade to such a large extent that it cannot be adequately defined.
Range
Var. sylvestris occurs in Europe, from Scotland and Spain eastward, and across N Asia nearly to the Pacific coast. In N Eurasia, from sea level to 1000 m; in S Europe only above 500 m in mountains, to as high as 2400 m in Spanish Sierra Nevada. Absent from E coastal parts of Siberia, rare and local in NE Siberia (4). USDA hardiness zone 1-4, depending on origin; Spanish and NW Scottish origins probably zone 6-7. Extinct through human agency (felling, burning, overgrazing) in Ireland, Wales, England, Netherlands and Denmark; re-introduced populations (largely of unknown derivation) thriving locally in all these countries. Also naturalized in SE Canada and NE US (2).Var. hamata is native to the Balkan peninsula, N Turkey and SW Transcaucasia (4), at altitudes of 500-2600 m (8). USDA hardiness zone 6.
Var. lapponica is often cited as native to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and adjacent parts of Russia north of 65°N (1, 4). It grows to about 30 m tall on the Solovki Islands in the White Sea (4).
Var. mongolica is native to Mongolia, NW China, & S. Siberia, at 300-2000 m altitude. It"[o]ccupies great areas in Transbaikalia, in most other areas prefers dry slopes or sandy soils, pure or with Larix spp. ('white taiga')" A specimen 42 m tall is known in the Sohondo Nat. Res., Transbaikalia (4). USDA hardiness zone 2.
Big Tree
"The thickest Swedish pine has a girth of 4.49 m and is growing at Strängsered in Ulricehamn" (14). The tallest specimens, up to 45-50 m high, occur along the S coast of the Baltic Sea (4). The stoutest in the UK is 169 cm dbh, at Belladrum, Scottish Highlands (A F Mitchell).Oldest
"The oldest Swedish pine tree is growing in Muddus National Park. It is at least 711 years old. Researchers have found that the pine has survived forest fires in the years of 1413, 1507, 1596 and 1771 ... The oldest tree harvested in Sweden was 654 years old when it was felled in 1913 at Svärdsjö, Dalarna" (14). These data suggest a fire history study, thus a relatively reliable minimum age, for the 711 year tree; the 654 year tree is likely a ring count.Dendrochronology
A Jan-1999 search of the Dendrochronology Database (http://tree.ltrr.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/bibliosearch.pl) produced 366 papers involving Pinus sylvestris. There are over a hundred citations involving problems in archeology and a like number involving climate studies. It has also been used in studies of stand dynamics, air pollution (including Chrnobyl radiation), ecophysiology, and a host of more arcane studies.Ethnobotany
Commonly sold as a Christmas tree, mainly in N America but also now in Britain, though not the traditional species for this use; when so used, var. hamata is the best as it has better blue colour in winter. An important timber species throughout much of its range.Observations
Trees naturalised or planted in N America commonly show a contorted stem form (3), possibly due to introduced insect pests lacking their normal control predators and parasites. In its native areas, stem straightness is usually very good.Remarks
Var. nevadensis (native to Spain) is listed as vulnerable on the 1996 IUCN Red List (available at various places online; use your search engine).Citations
(1) Silba 1986.(2) Little 1980.
(3) Kral in Flora of North America online.
(4) Vladimir Dinets, e-mail communication, 10-Jan-1998.
(5) Farjon 1998.
(6) Steven, H. M. & A. Carlisle 1959. The native pinewoods of Scotland.
(7) Pravdin, L. F. 1964. Sosna obyknovennaya. Izdatel'stvo Nauka, Moskva [Translated Israel progr. scient. transl., Jerusalem, as Scots Pine, 1969].
(8) Mirov 1967.
(9) Langlet, O. 1959. A cline or not a cline - a question of Scots Pine. Silvae Genetica 8: 13-22.
(10) Forrest, G. I. 1980. Genotypic variation among native Scots Pine populations in Scotland based on monoterpene analysis. Forestry 53: 101-128.
(11) Forrest, G. I. 1982. Relationship of some European Scots Pine populations to native Scottish woodlands based on monoterpene analysis. Forestry 55: 19-37.
(12) Kinloch, B. B., R. D. Westfall & G. I. Forrest 1986. Caledonian Scots Pine: origins and genetic structure. New Phytologist 104: 703-729.
(13) Prus-Glowacki, W. & B. R. Stephan 1994. Genetic variation of Pinus sylvestris from Spain in relation to other European populations. Silvae Genetica 43: 7-14.
(14) Forest Sweden: The Swedish Forests. No date or author. URL = http://www-forest.slu.se/skogen/eng/omtrad.cfm, accessed 5-Jun-1999.
See also:
Burns & Honkala 1990.
FEIS database.
This page prepared 2-Jan-1999 by Michael P. Frankis.
[Pinus] [Pinaceae] [home]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/pi/pin/sylvestris.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 24-May-1999