PineScotsC

Family: Pinaceae (Pine family).

Scots Pine is the only native British Pine.

Habitat:
This tree may be one of the most common trees in the Taiga or Northern Hemisphere Forest since it ranges, at all altitudes, all the way to East Siberia and goes down south as far as the Balkans and the Black Sea.
Scots Pine is a pioneer species and has the ability to regenerate and thrive in poor soils.
Planted specimens can be found throughout Britain, but the last small remnants (about 1% old growth) of the once great Caledonian Pine Forest are found in Scotland. There has been a growing trend in Scottish Forestry to allow Scots pine regeneration and also to plant it in conjunction with deciduous native species such as Birch. Natural stands of Scots pine can also be found in the heath lands of Southern England.

Scots Pine - Pinus sylvestris

Characteristics:

The young trees have a more narrow conical outline. As the trees grow, they loose their lower branches and the crowns becomes flatter with wide spreading branches. Against the horizon the crowns can look like small dark green clouds floating around the tops of the tree. Height up to 120 ft or 36m. Maximum girth in a mature tree can be up to just over 8 ft or 2.5m
The upper bark is a warm orange-red colour and the lower bark is usually deeply fissured in older trees. The blue-green needles are usually twisted. They grow in pairs and are 5-8 cm long.
The small pointed hanging cones are greyish-brown with woody scales and produce winged seeds when the scales are opened. You can see cones in various stages on the branches. The ones nearest the tip are the most recently fertilised flowers, then there is a pair of two year old cones maturing further down and a bit further along again you find the lowest cones, which are three years old. These last cones are ripe and will probably have opened scales.
The life-span of Scots Pines is about 250-300 years, although older specimens have been found, including a 520 year old tree.

Cultivation:

Propagation is usually by seed. Collect cones in winter or early spring. Let the cones dry. Extract the seeds and put in a cold store. It will remain viable for several years.

Growth: 40 ft in 20 years

Can be very susceptible to dry rot fungus.

Wood:

The timber of Scots pine is also known as "red deal". Although it is a soft wood, it is strong and easy to work. These qualities have made it a popular choice for a great variety of uses.
When untreated it is not naturally durable wood, but it takes preservatives very well.
In the past it was used for building purposes, ships masts and as a major source for turpentine, resin, and tar. It was also used for making charcoal and flaming torches.

Nowadays its main uses are for building wood, pit-props, telegraph poles, fencing, furniture, boxes, chipboard and paper pulp.

Medicinal Uses:

Like other evergreen trees in places with grim winters, the Scots Pine has been used in various brews, from teas to ale, as a useful source of Vitamin C when there are few other green leaves available.

An excellent example of this usage were the Pine and Spruce beers of the Vikings and other Nordic people. They were medicinal tonics which were not only used as home, but also by seafarers to keep Scurvy at bay and to fight infection. Captain Cook and many other explorers followed the Viking example of having Pine and Spruce beer supplies.
One recipe is as follows: Collect young pine shoots in the Spring, taking care of course to only harvest from the lower branches, so the growth of the tree will not be impeded in any way. Boil the shoots in Barley juices for about 2 hours. They will impart a warming flavour and a pleasant bitterness to the beer and also help to preserve the drink. These days hops are used instead to flavour our beers. Take off the fire and add spruce shoots to the hot liquid, so these can infuse and impart aroma and flavour to the drink. Ferment the ale for up to 4 weeks before bottling.
The beer is a natural antiseptic, as well as a tonic and was held in high regard in the Highlands.
Todays 7.5% alcohol version is produced by the Heather Ale Ltd in Craigmill near Glasgow and you can find out more about the Alba, Scots Pine and other indigenous brews on http://www.fraoch.com/history.html

Traditional knowledge: The-Tree also offers a page where you can read the entry for Pines from "A Modern Herbal" (Mrs. M. Grieve, ed. Mrs. C.F.Leyel) published in 1931. Obviously things have moved on since then, yet this book is still often unsurpassed in its scope and depth of traditional knowledge. The page pops up in a new window. Close it to return to the Tree Gallery.

You can click on the pictures below (courtesy of S. Mitchinson) to enlarge them.
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Note from webmother to page visitors:
Many of these pages are still bare bones. Whenever time allows, we will continue to add information to the Tree Gallery until all the trees have descriptions of their habitat, characteristics, cultivation, uses and anything else of interest. Why not get involved with enhancing this web resource by sending photographs of trees, bark, details of branches, leaves, flowers, seed and fruit in all seasons (Good use of all these new digital cameras!). Email us if you are keen to know more about a particular tree and we will do our best to complete that one next.

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