It plays an important role for the landscape, for nature and for protection. Its wood is highly prized and soft. It's used for wood carving or for interior panelling.
The Swiss stone pine is one of the typical forest species of the subalpine belt.
Among the other pines of our mountains you'll also find the mountain pine.
Fact sheet
- Range and distribution
- Its range includes the Alps and areas in the Carpathians. The Swiss stone pine is found in the most inland and highest zones (rarely at 1000 m a.s.l., up to 2400 m a.s.l. and beyond). The western limit of its range is Monviso, while the eastern limit is the Tauern Alps in Austria and the Conca di Misurina in Italy. In Italy it has very characteristic stands in Valtellina and in the Livigno area. It is also very important in the province of Bolzano, where it forms pure stands or mixed stands with Norway spruce and larch. Elsewhere it is found in the most inland valleys, disappearing where the climate becomes oceanic. The Swiss stone pine has been used for reforestation in some areas of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
- Ecology
The species' resistance to frost depends on its vegetative state. When dormant it can withstand even -40°C, while in summer the shoots do not withstand temperatures below -2°C. Its minimum heat requirement is a growing season of about 60-70 days. However, too long a season creates big problems of imbalance between photosynthesis and respiration. This is one of the factors that determine the lower altitudinal limit of its range.
Another limiting factor is competition with Norway spruce. The Swiss stone pine's environment generally has no big problems of aridity, but if precipitation drops below 700 mm a year, it gives way to low shrubs. It copes badly with the consequences of physiological drought. It tolerates shade when young, but then its need for light increases. It has no great soil requirements and can behave as a pioneer species. In principle it should succeed the larch, being a climax species. But the timescales of this succession are often so long that they create mixed stands.- Habit
The tree takes on a narrow columnar habit. Its growth is very slow: in 200 years (in good environmental conditions) it reaches 25-28 m in height and 55-60 cm in diameter. The short, horizontal branches can grow right down to touch the ground.
- Leaves
The needle-like leaves are about 9 cm long, grouped in tufts of 5, stiff, green and shiny above and whitish below. The young shoots have twigs with orange-brown down.
- Flowers and fruit
The cones are about 7.5 cm long, egg-shaped, blue-violet at first and red-brown when ripe. The cones take two years to ripen, completing between October and November. The scales open, never completely, in winter.
- Bark
Smooth and greenish-grey at first; then grey-brown and scaly.
- Uses
- It plays an important role for the landscape, for nature and for protection. Its wood is highly prized and soft. It's used for wood carving or for interior panelling. The timber is produced through close-to-nature silviculture. The bark is used in tanning and, together with the shoots, to produce a fragrant resin called “Carpathian balm”. The seeds are similar to pine nuts, but smaller. These too are edible. They are eaten fresh or as decoration in pastry-making. The seed shells are used to produce “cedar oil”