SCOTS PINE BUDS (PINUS SYLVESTRIS) - PLANTS

Botanical Name: Pinus Sylvestris

Botanical Origin: Eurasia

Part Typically Used: Buds

Common name: Flowers, Branch buds

Throughout this structure are : pegged male flowers, female globular which awaiting fertilization and new parts of needles.

Scots Pine  is a species of pine that is native to Eurasia, ranging from Western Europe to Eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains and Anatolia, and north to well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia.

Pinus Sylvestris is an evergreen coniferous tree growing up to 35 m in height and 1 m trunk diameter when mature, the tallest on record being a more than 210-year-old tree growing in Estonia which stands at 46,6 m.

The lifespan of pine is normally 150 - 300 years, with the oldest recorded specimens in Lapland, Northern Finland over 760 years.

The genus name Pinus was derived from the Greek Pitus which referred toa Pine or fir tree.

Scots Pine is monoecious, meaning both male and female flowers grow on the same tree. Male flowers comprise clusters of yellow anthers at the base of shoots. Female flowers are small, red-purple and globular, and grow at the tips of new shoots.

Branch buds are around ½ inch long, cylindrical with a dull point, covered in loose, reddish brown, narrowly lance shaped scales.

One of the identifying characteristics of  Pinus Sylvestris is that its leaves, called needles, occur in pairs.  The two, twisted, ridged, blue-green needles form a structure called the fascicle. At first, the needles are covered by a brown, papery, protective sheath that falls off as time progresses.

Winged seeds are released as cone scales open.  Connected spheres of pollen from male flowers fertilise female flowers.  You can often find heaps of pollen in hollows on the ground.  In summer fertilised flowers form green cones. The winged seeds inside  takes 18 months or 3 years to ripen. Autumn cones turn brown.