Bosnian pine
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Average mature height 40-50' tall and 20-40' wide. Dense, compact, conical shape in youth, becoming broad and flat-topped with age. Slow to moderate growth rate. This tree often lives several hundred years in its native range, with some reports of trees up to 1,000 years old.

Native Range

Native to the Balkan Peninsula, southern Italy, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Introduced in 1865.

Flower and Fruit Details

Monoecious flowers, often yellowish. Fruits in ovoid cones, solitary or 3-whorled, 4-5" long, purple-blue in youth becoming yellow-brown, with a short, acute umbo.

Leaf and Bark Features

Evergreen: Stiff needles in pairs of 2, 2-4" long, with 0.5" needle sheaths at the base. Needles are lustrous, dark green, dentate with stomatal lines on all surfaces. Ridged and furrowed, ash-gray bark, with fissures exposing yellow-gray patches.

Culture and Care

Easy to grow. Needs full sun, and is well-suited to dry and chalky soils. Tolerant of salt, heat, drought and pollution. Tolerates various soil types including alkaline, clay, or sandy. Avoid poorly-drained, wet sites. Zone 5-6. Reported as resistant to Diplodia tip blight fungus.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

Deer-resistant, long-lived. Disease resistant and tolerant of poor soils, heat and drought. Good wildlife value. 4-season interest: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.

Suggested Uses

Makes a good specimen, screen, windbreak, or in mass plantings. Becomes picturesque with age.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA