Pinus sylvestris
Scots pine
How do you recognise Scots pine?
The needles are flat and greyish green, 3–7 cm long, and grow in pairs on short spur shoots. The cones are conical, short, and fairly small. An old trunk carries thick plated bark.
What is it confused with?
Spruce needles are shorter, 1.5–2.5 cm, and grow singly rather than in pairs. Spruce cones are long and hang from the branches.
Where does Scots pine grow, and when does it flower?
Scots pine grows mostly in mesic and dry heath forest and copes with poor soil. It is common throughout the country.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Scots pine is among the commonest trees in Finland, and a short twig tip with needles is enough.
Did you know?
A cone takes two or three summers to ripen its seed, so one tree carries cones of different ages at once. The plated bark forms only on pines of at least 150 years.
Where does Scots pine grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
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Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
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