Blue Pine

Other Asiatic and American pines:

Himalayan Pine, Pinus excelsa

Native of the Himalayas, it is planted in parks and gardens.
Height: 45 m tall.
Orangy brown bark which cracks in flakes.
Its needles, 12-15 cm long, are very fine grouped by 5 in drooping, soft clusters in touch.
Its fruits are cones 15 cm long, often grouped.

Blue Pine, Pinus wallichiana

Spreading Form or columnar, with main branches horizontal and drooping secondary branches. Stems are weeping.
Habitat: limestone and humid climate.
Height: 45 m tall.
Dark grey bark which cracks by forming small scales.
Its needles are 20 cm long, very fine and light, like many trees of the Himalayas (cedar of the Himalayas, spruce of the Himalayas). They have an (aquamarine) squalid colour and are grouped by 5.
Its fruits are cones 30 cm long, often bent back, narrow, and covered with resin.
Use: nice ornamental tree.

Lace-Bark Pine, Pinus bungeana

Origin: North of China. It is planted in parks and gardens.
Habitat: shale lands.
Maximum size: 15 m in Europe.
Smooth, very characteristic bark, which sheds in flakes of colours grey-green for the most ancient parts, red-carmine for the most recent, clearing zones of barely formed bark, of cream colour.
Its needles, 7-8 cm long, are very fine grouped by 5 in scattered bundles.
Its fruits are small stocky cones 7 cm long. Scales are in prickly tip.

Monterey pine

Origin: west coast of the United States.
Habitat: it supports humid, coastal climates.
Quick growth (30 m in a century).
Shape: spreading crown, dense foliage.
Needles: by 3, of 16 cm.
Cones: of 6-16 cm x 4-11 cm. They can stay on the tree 40 years without blooming to liberate seeds.
It was widely planted in the seaside resorts of Brittany, at the beginning of the XXth century (above, to the left).