Scots Pine
How To ID Me And What I’m Good For?
My ID Features:
Female flowers
Bark
Needles
Young cones
Scots Pine
Latin Name - Pinus sylvestris.
Common Names - Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine.
Family - Pinaceae.
Edible bits - Needles, cones & pollen
Habitat - Practically anywhere. It particularly likes heathland.
Possible Confusion - Other members of the Pine family. Members of the conifer family are hard to discern differences. One should take extreme caution they do not consume toxic yew. Studying a Scots Pine with its cones still attached, will better help you to learn the key features of this tree. Scots Pine's twisted needles in pairs should be a key identifier!
Description - Being one of only three native conifers, alongside yew & juniper. It's the only native pine (cone bearing) tree. It was the only pine member to have survived the ice age and once covered 70% of Scotland's land mass, for that alone it's awesome! The female flowers produce the most amazing pollen to capture in spring. Which then lead on to the beautiful young pine cones. The needles can also produce that typical pine essence, but it's much harder to obtain compared to the young cones. As far as I'm aware there are two variants of Scots Pine in the UK. One being Aurea and the other Fastigiata.
Physical Characteristics
Cones - You can quite often find three generations of cones on the same tree. The cones range from 3-8cm long.
Needles - The needle-like leaves are blue & green, slightly twisted and grow in pairs on short side shoots. Short compared to other pines (5-7cm) and often more thick and twisted than other 2-needle pines.
Bark - The bark is very distinctive with both brown and orange colours (sometimes even with a red hue). The bark develops plates and fissures with age, becoming more grey in colour.
Medicinal Qualities - The needles are said to be high in vitamin C, vitamin A, and antioxidants. I suspect the same rings true for the cones.
Harvesting Sustainability - Being such an abundant tree in the UK, you’re unlikely to do any damage. Harvest only a small amount from each tree.
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