Name

Pinus halepensis Mill., Gard. Dict. ed. 8. n. 8. (1768).
[Aleppo pine]

Description

Habit: A tall tree up to 25 m tall and 150 cm dbh.

Bark: Bark thin, grey-brown, becoming thicker and reddish brown on lower trunks of larger trees with longitudinal grooves and fissures forming scaly plates.

Foliage: Needles green to yellow-green, in 2’s, occasionally 3’s, 5–15 cm long, narrow (0.7-1.0 mm wide), slightly twisted, edges minutely serrate, with stomata on all surfaces. Fascicle sheath persistent, up to 16 mm long but weathering to 3 mm.

Branchlets: New shoots usually whitish or glaucous, relatively smooth, becoming slightly ridged and grey to grey-brown.

Winter buds: Winter buds small, non-resinous, with fringed bud scales.

Cones: Seed cones pendant, 6–12 cm long, symmetrical, reddish brown, solitary or in whorls of 2–3. Cones take 3 years to mature and remain on branches for long thereafter. Cone scales shiny, red-brown, without a prickle.

Seeds: Seeds 5-8 mm long with wings 15-28 mm long.

Notes

Pinus halepensis is closely related to P. brutia but readily distinguished by the direction of the cones on the branches. Pinus halepensis cones point down the branch and P. brutia cones point forward towards the branch tip.

Natural Distribution

Mediterranean regions, but only in Libya along the African coast.