Black pine (Black pine)
Appearance: Evergreen coniferous tree approx 20-30 meters. Younger trees, initially conical or irregularly columnar.
The lower part of the crown in older specimens is very irregular and usually loose, in the upper one, however, it is compacted and oval in outline. Branches are usually quite steep in the shape of a candelabrum, also less often – protruding horizontally and spreading; altogether multiform – they can take many forms.
The bark of young trees is smooth, later very thickly furrowed and divided into scaly lobes, finally brown and black or black–grey, The bark is usually very dark in color on younger branches, and often even as black as soot (feature that gives the name). Very strong and thick shoots, longitudinally grooved, yellowish brown.
The donuts are firm, with a slender top, looking like a cap on, heavily resin-coated, on side shoots covered with paper thin ones, whitish, quite long scales.
Two pins on short shoots, very strong, semicircular in cross-section or flattened on both sides, May 10-15 cm in length, they are stiff, slightly sharpened, dark green to black green, usually straight or slightly, arched curved.
Male flowers (inflorescences) they are mostly in large numbers grouped into a wide cuff, at the base of new shoots; light brownish-yellow, about the length 2,5-3 centimeters. Female cones similar to Scots pine, but clearly bigger, do 8 cm in length, when ripe it is dark brown.
Habitat: An important forest-forming species in the dry limestone regions of Central and Southern Europe.
Occurrence: Widespread and common in the southern part of Central Europe and the Balkans, and in certain parts of the Mediterranean. It is also often planted in large parks and gardens, and also grown in forests.
Flowering period: May to June.
General thoughts: Black pine is divided into a number of geographical races, which differ slightly from each other. In terms of range, the most important is the Austrian Black Pine (Pinus nigra ssp. nigra), widespread from Austria to the Balkans. It corresponds to the most described features. Corsican or Calabrian black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. larch) has the pins twisted, grey-green. Occurs in Corsica, Sardinia and southern Italy. Spanish black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. size-house) occurs in southwestern France and Spain. It differs from the typical form by its flexible pins and a conical shape. On the Croatian coast there is also Pinus nigra ssp. daimatica with relatively short (length 3-8 cm) pins. The wood of all black pines is very resinous and usually yellowish. It is less suitable for furniture wood, while it is mostly used as a building material or for the production of cellulose.