It is a fairly common plant in the temperate countries of Central Europe, from Austria in the west to Yugoslavia in the east. It grows on clay soils, sometimes on limestone stones in mountainous areas, giving preference to the southern slopes. Quite impressive coniferous tree, Austrian black pine looks especially good in youth. About ten years old has a wide conical crown, on which strong branches are symmetrically located. In a fifteen-year-old tree, the crown is already sprawling, has an umbrella shape. But at any age she is very picturesque and attracts attention.
Appearance
Evergreen beauty in her youth grows rapidly, with age, the pace slows down, but still on average over the year she grows 40 cm in height and grows 20 cm wide. Depending on the living conditions, black pine has a height of 20 to 45 meters. Her bark is thick with deep cracks, covered with gray-black scales, which have a beautiful decorative appearance.
Needles and fruits
Leaf blades in the form of needles are arranged in bundles in pairs. They are hard, tough and prickly. In length reach up to 16 centimeters. Their special color is deep dark green, seeming black from afar. It was he who gave the tree its name - black pine.
The needles last for a long time - 4-5 years, sometimes even 8. The fruits of this tree are cones. Light brown in color and symmetrical in shape, they are from 5 to 9 centimeters long, making the pine even more beautiful with its decorative effect.
Undemanding sun lover
Pine is a photophilous plant, therefore it is difficult to tolerate shading, and may even die. The roots of the tree are extremely strong and grow to great depths, which helps it withstand the wind of any strength. Black pine is unpretentious to soils; it grows successfully on both dry and wet, on acidic or poor substrates. In the Mediterranean, it grows even on dry and humus-free limestone stones. The main requirement for soils is good drainage.
Characteristics
Black pine has a number of excellent qualities that help it adapt to any conditions. The main ones are:
- wind resistance;
- frost resistance;
- tolerates summer heat and drought.
The tree is so undemanding that it easily tolerates air pollution and can develop in urban climates. Decorative molding is possible.
Using
In Western Europe, black pine is planted in artificial forests, starting in 1759. It is considered a promising park tree, just like the ordinary pine Fastigiata. With the help of these pyramidal pines create majestic alleys in recreational areas. They also wonderful complement any landscape composition. Thanks to the original crown and dark green needles, these trees blend well with fir, spruce and douglas. Great compositions are obtained with hardwoods. In Russia, pine has been known since 1833 and is used mainly as a rare and surprisingly beautiful plant. There was also a practical application for it: it landed to contain sand in the south of the steppe zone of Russia.
