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Portrait of Corsican pine

Nature · Trees

Corsican pine

Neophyte · evergreen conifer to 40 m · plantations, dunes, heaths and shelter belts

Pinus nigra subsp. laricio — Pinaceae

A black pine from Corsica and southern Europe, and the first pine planted at scale by the Forestry Commission after its creation in 1919. It grows fast and straight on the sands and dunes of the east coast and Breckland. Red-band needle blight, Dothistroma, has since crippled its commercial use, and few new trees are planted.

How to know it

Whole tree of Corsican pine
Whole tree Myrabella · CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf of Corsican pine
Leaf Liné1 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bark of Corsican pine
Bark Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man ) · GFDL 1.2

How to spot them

  • ▸Long, stiff needles in pairs, 10 to 15 cm, often twisted and dark grey-green
  • ▸Bark rough, grey-brown to black, in plates, unlike the orange upper trunk of Scots pine
  • ▸Egg-shaped, thick-scaled cones with a small prickle, 5 to 8 cm
  • ▸Triangular when young, flat-topped with age
  • ▸Look-alike: Scots pine has shorter (4 to 7 cm), blue-green twisted needles and peeling orange-red bark on the upper trunk; Corsican needles are longer, stiffer, darker.

How to know it

The first pine planted at any scale by the Forestry Commission from 1919, chosen for its straight stem and branching

Corsican pine (Forest Research).

Its needles in pairs are 10 to 15 cm long, very stiff and dark, far longer than those of the native pine

Corsican pine.

Red-band needle blight, Dothistroma, hit 70 per cent of the young stands surveyed on the public forest estate in 2006

Corsican pine (Forest Research).

Naturalised on dunes and heaths, it is favoured over Scots pine for forestry on the coast

Corsican pine (Woodland Trust).

A subspecies of black pine from an island in the Mediterranean, sometimes grown as a bonsai

Corsican pine.

Its timber is hard and straight-grained and makes paper pulp and general construction wood

Corsican pine.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Pinus nigra subsp. laricio — nigra means black, for the dark bark and foliage; also known as black pine or Austrian pine (the nominate subspecies)
  • •First pine planted at scale by the Forestry Commission from 1919 (Forest Research)
  • •Fast-growing, gaining 33 to 61 cm a year; can live over 500 years (Woodland Trust)
  • •Naturalised on heaths and sand dunes, where it regenerates from seed
  • •Dothistroma needle blight (red-band needle blight) has seriously affected its productive potential, and few new trees are being planted (Forest Research)
  • •A 2006 survey found 70% of Corsican pine stands under 30 years old on the Forestry Commission estate were affected (Forest Research)
  • •Tolerates heat, drought, salt and snow (Woodland Trust)
  • •Grown in plantations, shelter belts, churchyards and parks throughout the UK

Drill it — 6 cards

1 / 6new card

Sources