| General Description | A small, upright growing, pyramidal shaped tree with dark silver blue needles. |
| ID Characteristic | Pinus parviflora 'Tempelhof’ needles in fascicles of 5, produce small pinkish purple ornamental cones at a very young age, and have attractive steel blue needles all year round. |
| Landscape | This tree is ideal for bordering around any landscape, and can be used in japanese, coastal, and even traditional gardens. Pinus parviflora ‘Tempelhof’ is a specimen tree, and can be used as an accent plant in gardens because of its ornamental needles, which will stand out among other plants since it provides a different texture compared to surrounding plants. Since this is a small ornamental tree it can also be used as a bonsai specimen. |
| Propagation | The straight species is scarified by lightly sanding or filing the seeds, and then put in water to soak for 24 to 48 hours before stratifying. The seeds should be stratified for 90 days at 33 to 41? ( 0 to 5?), in a moist medium. |
| Cultivation | Grows in well drained soils, including loam and sandy soils with medium
moisture, full sun exposure, and prefers a pH of 5.6 to 7.3. This cultivar is salt, deer, and drought tolerant. It is unknown if this specific cultivar has any susceptible conditions, but requires little to no maintenance if planted in appropriate location. |
| Pests | The pests that affect the straight species includes: Cronartium ribicola, which is a complex fungus disease that affects many species of pine, Monochamus saltuarius. The Japanese Pine Sawyer is an invasive species, but has not been reported in Canada. |
| Habitat | Horticultural origin. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Stem is greenish brown covered in fine hair, eventually turning a smooth light grey. The bark on young trees are smooth, grey, and in time become a darker grey bark that eventually becomes more scaly as the tree ages. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description | Ovoid shaped, about 1 cm long with a yellow- brown colour. |
| Leaf Description | The needles are in fascicles of 5, densely clustered, slightly twisted, forming brush-like tufts at the end of the branches. The needles are 6 to 7.5 cm long, and approximately 1 mm wide. The needles have a bluish green colour that lasts through the winter, and are finely serrated. |
| Flower Description | This plant is monoecious, and has separate male and female reproductive structures. The tree has both male and female cones. The male cones release pollen that is transported through wind to land on a female cone. The pollen is transferred through the scales that spread apart to allow the pollen to come in contact with the ovules, which fertilize the female cone’s egg, and then develops into seeds which are contained in the scales. These scales fall to the ground and enable the seeds to germinate. |
| Fruit Description | Male cones are 6 mm long, clustered, pinkish purple. Female cones are green with 30 to 80 scales. Mature female cones are bluish green, waxy, and resinous at young age, changing to yellow-brown, red-brown, and dark-brown. The Female cones are 5 cm to 10 cm long, and remain on the tree for 6 to 7 years. |
| Colour Description | Needles are bluish green that persist through winter months, the bark is light grey that turns darker as the tree matures, and the cones are a unique pinkish purple colour. |
| Texture Description | Medium textured plant that stays the same year round. |