In Greece, although the species is not widely distributed,[4] an extensive stone pine forest exists in western Peloponnese at Strofylia[5] on the peninsula separating the Kalogria Lagoon from the Mediterranean Sea. This coastal forest is at least 13 kilometres (8 miles) long, with dense and tall stands of Pinus pinea mixed with Pinus halepensis.[6] Currently, Pinus halepensis is outcompeting stone pines in many locations of the forest.[7] Another location in Greece is at Koukounaries on the northern Aegean island of Skiathos at the southwest corner of the island. This is a half-mile-long dense stand of stone and Aleppo pines that lies between a lagoon and the Aegean Sea.[8]
Western Asia
In Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion in Turkey; and the Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests ecoregion in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and in the Palestinian Territories.
In the Western Cape Province, the pines were according to legend planted by the French Huguenot refugees who settled at the Cape of Good Hope during the late 17th century and who brought the seeds with them from France. The tree is known in the Afrikaans language as kroonden.
Description
Stone pine in Brissago, on Lake Maggiore, Italy
The stone pine is a coniferousevergreen tree that can exceed 25 metres (80 feet) in height, but 12–20 m (40–65 ft) is more typical. In youth, it is a bushy globe, in mid-age an umbrella canopy on a thick trunk, and, in maturity, a broad and flat crown over 8 m (26 ft) in width.[2] The bark is thick, red-brown and deeply fissured into broad vertical plates.
Bark of a stone pine, Pisa, Italy
Foliage
The flexible mid-green leaves are needle-like, in bundles of two, and are 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long (exceptionally up to 30 cm or 12 in). Young trees up to 5–10 years old bear juvenile leaves, which are very different, single (not paired), 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) long, glaucous blue-green; the adult leaves appear mixed with juvenile leaves from the fourth or fifth year on, replacing it fully by around the tenth year. Juvenile leaves are also produced in regrowth following injury, such as a broken shoot, on older trees.
Cone
The cones are broad, ovoid, 8–15 cm (3–6 in) long, and take 36 months to mature, longer than any other pine. The seeds (pine nuts, piñones, pinhões, pinoli, or pignons) are large, 2 cm (3⁄4 in) long, and pale brown with a powdery black coating that rubs off easily, and have a rudimentary 4–8 mm (5⁄32–5⁄16 in) wing that falls off very easily. The wing is ineffective for wind dispersal, and the seeds are animal-dispersed, originally mainly by the Iberian magpie, but in recent history largely by humans.
Use
Food
Pinus pinea has been cultivated extensively for at least 6,000 years for its edible pine nuts, which have been trade items since early historic times. The tree has been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean region for so long that it has naturalized, and is often considered native beyond its natural range.
The tree is among the current symbols of Rome.[9] It was first planted in Rome during the Roman Republic, where many historic Roman roads, such as the Via Appia, were (and still are) embellished with lines of stone pines. Stone pines were planted on the hills of the Bosphorusstrait in Istanbul for ornamental purposes during the Ottoman period. In Italy, the stone pine has been an aesthetic landscape element since the Italian Renaissance garden period. In the 1700s, P. pinea began being introduced as an ornamental tree to other Mediterranean climate regions of the world, and is now often found in gardens and parks in South Africa, California, and Australia. It has naturalized beyond cities in South Africa to the extent that it is listed as an invasive species there. It is also planted in western Europe up to southern Scotland, and on the East Coast of the United States up to New Jersey.
Small specimens are used for bonsai, and also grown in large pots and planters. The year-old seedlings are seasonally available as table-top Christmas trees 20–30 cm (8–12 in) tall.
The introduced western conifer seed beetle (Leptoglossus occidentalis) was accidentally imported with timber to northern Italy in the late 1990s from western USA, and has spread across Europe as an invasive pest species since then. It feeds on the sap of developing conifer cones throughout its life, and its sap-sucking causes the developing seeds to wither and misdevelop. It has destroyed most of the pine nut seeds in Italy, threatening P. pinea in its nativehabitats there.[13]
Pestalotiopsis pini (a genus of ascomycete fungi), was found as an emerging pathogen on Pinus pinea in Portugal. Evidence of shoot blight and stem necrosis were found in stone pine orchards and urban areas in 2020. The edible pine nut production has been decreasing in the affected area due to several factors, including pests and diseases. The fungus was found on needles, shoots and trunks of Pinus pinea and also on Pinus pinaster. Pestalotiopsis fungal species could represent a threat to the health of pine forests in the Mediterranean basin.[14]
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