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Tree of the week: Italian stone pine

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Good morning Mark Sanchez, on this, the first Saturday of the 2008 college football season. By my reckoning, this fall will mark Pieter Severynen’s sixth season of providing us with his weekly appreciation of the trees that make Los Angeles into one of the world’s great urban forests. Thank you, Pieter.

(Italian) stone pine – Pinus pinea

The stone pine is one of our oldest plant companions. Its edible seeds (pine nuts, pinoli) have been harvested for thousands of years and it may well be the first pine tree used and cultivated by early man. It probably originated in and near the Iberian Peninsula, but since prehistoric times it was known and planted all around the Mediterranean Sea.

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A moderately fast-growing evergreen, the stone pine can grow to 40 to 80 feet tall by 40 to 60 feet wide. It changes shape as it does so, steadily gaining in character along the way. It starts out as a thick, bushy, round-headed tree; in middle age it develops a many-branched umbrella shape, supported by a thick trunk; and in later age it becomes broader and more flat-topped. Branches may become hugely thick with age and the tree gives the impression of tremendous strength. The bark is thick, reddish-brown in color and deeply fissured. Juvenile leaves are short, single, and blue-green in color; the 5- to 8-inch-long, stiff, adult, bright green needle-like leaves are borne in bundles of two. Broadly oval, glossy-brown cones, 4 to 6 inches long, which take three years to mature, follow the female flowers. The tree is drought-tolerant and loves full sun. Over-watering may cause branch drop. As a street tree or garden specimen it needs room at the top as well as plenty of space for its roots.

The Romans thought that the seeds had aphrodisiacal qualities. Grown commercially for its seeds, the stone pine is also widely planted for its beautiful shape. The Italians were so familiar with the tree that it was almost unavoidable that the stone pine became a favorite subject in Renaissance paintings.

Thanks again, Pieter.

Your thoughts? Comments?

-- Peter Viles

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