Pinus Species, Austrian Pine, Black Pine, Corsican Pine, European Black Pine

This has long been one of the most commonly planted ornamental trees here in eastern Massachusetts Z6a, especially in commercial planting...Read Mores. (The rigid spiny needles that accumulate on the ground may be the main reason this tree isn't often planted around houses.) The standard references all praise it for its adaptability and its tolerance of urban conditions.

I see few specimens approaching maturity. I see many disfigured with many dead and dying branches. I don't know if the cause is one of the several needle and tip blights that afflict this species, or a nematode that Dirr mentions as an increasing problem, or perhaps some other emerging problem.

This may be an adequate ornamental for a short-term planting, but it rarely survives to maturity here.

Dirr says it's hardy from Z3b to Z6(7) in eastern N. America, where hot, humid summers limit its success in the south.

This pine grows extremely well in Edmonton, Ab, Canada. Biggest trees are probably nearing 70 feet tall but not many are any older then ...Read More60 years yet. It has been planted in groups all over the city in parks and off major roads. Very few people plant it in their yard though which is a shame. Scots Pine is the go to tree probably because of the bark.

This pine is hardy to at least zone 2. I have seen it growing great on acreages 2 hours north of Edmonton.

The Austrian Black is a handsome coniferous tree that I once saw wild in its native Austria in 1981, ranging wild also in central and sou...Read Moretheast Europe. It is the most commonly planted pine from many nurseries in much of the Midwest where the soil is often slightly alkaline as in northern and central Illinois. It is also commonly planted in the East. It tolerates pollution, salt, and heavy clay soil. Its very dark, thick, about 6" long needles are very stiff and are painful when one is poked by them. The conical cones are 2 to 4 inches long with sharp prickles on the scales. The bark becomes plated with tan areas among the gray-brown bark It grows about 1.5 ft/yr like most coniferous trees. Trees often suffer some damage from Sphaeropsis (Diploidia) Tip Blight and some die from it and some can be killed by the Pinewood Nematode spread by pine bark beetles. (I prefer the similar American native of Red Pine that has soft needles and prettier bark with some orange and pink areas among the gray bark. But the latter is not for alkaline and heavy clay soils or lots of salt and pollution.)

This is a great complementary pine in the high country of the southwest (Flagstaff). After a year or two of irrigation it needs no supple...Read Moremental watering and has a similar green as the Ponderosa, but grows thicker with a more obvious central leader. The Austrian Pine seems to like clay more than Ponderosa as well.