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Pinus cembra
Also called Arolla Pine, Swiss Stone Pine, Alpine Stone Pine, Arolla Pinetree, Cembran Pine
Swiss pine is a slow-growing, long-lived conifer from the Alps and Carpathians, grown mainly as a hardy ornamental tree in cold climates. It needs full sun, cold winters and well-drained soil, and it is grown from seed or nursery stock.
Pinus cembra, also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine, Arolla pine, Austrian stone pine, or just stone pine, is a species of pine tree in the subgenus Strobus.
The Swiss pine grows in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains of central Europe, in Poland (Tatra Mountains), Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia (Tatra Mountains), Ukraine and Romania. It typically grows at 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) to 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) altitude. It often reaches the alpine tree line in this area.
Swiss pine is a popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, giving steady though not fast growth on a wide range of sites where the climate is cold. It is very tolerant of severe winter cold, hardy down to at least −50 °C (−58 °F), and also of wind exposure. The seeds are also harvested and sold as pine nuts. When cultivated, it will likely start producing cones after the age of 12 years, much faster than in the wild. This depends on the climate, soil type, mycorrhizal fungi etc. To make the tree bear cones faster, the tree can be inoculated with ectomycorrhizal fungi, such as Suillus luteus, Suillus americanus, Suillus placidus etc. These are the most effective.
Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine · Arizona Pine · Chinese White Pine · Mexican White Pine · Jack pine · Turkish Pine · Lacebark Pine · Canary Islands Pine · Caribbean pine · Mexican Pinyon · Sand Pine · Lodgepole Pine
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pinus cembra by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
