The Scots Pine, King of the forest, the very spirit of the ancient Caledonian Pine Forests that once covered most of Scotland, it is in fact the only native Scottish pine tree.
The Scots Pine is an evergreen tree, tall and stately - reaching 80ft or more in height with a small, flat, often lop sided crown.
Young trees are conical in shape with whorled branches. Older trees have long bare trunks with reddish coloured upper bark, branching out only towards the top of the tree.
Bark is fissured and becomes light and papery towards the top.
Needles are a grey or blue/green colour and are borne in twisted and finely toothed pairs measuring between 25-80mm.
Cones are oval - conical in shape, measuring 20-80mm. They are produced in clusters of 1-3 and ripen from a pinkish purple to a dull greyish brown in the second year of growth. The cone-scales have exposed flat or slightly pyramidal ends with a short spine.
Seeds are winged (approx 15mm long.)
Scots Pine will form forests on very poor, light sandy soil on high grounds and is very common throughout Europe.
Life expectancy is approx 150 years, but has been known to reach 300 years.