| General Description | Pinus hartwegii has a rounded crown atop a large trunk and can reach heights of 20-30 m. The bark is dark brown with a thick scale to plate-likr appearance. Needles grow in groups of 5 and are dark green in colour. Cones are almost black and conical in shape and spread winged seeds when mature. |
| ID Characteristic | Extremely dark coloured cones with deep brown fissured bark resembling a plating contrasted with deep shiny green needles. |
| Shape | An upright trunk with a wide rounded top and upward curling branches. |
| Propagation | Seeds should be collected in autumn, soaked in warm water for a few days and then stored in plastic wrap placed in a cool place for 60 days. Pot with peat moss and soil in full sun avoiding windy conditions. Once reaching 30 cm permanent planting can take place. |
| Cultivation | Sandy and volcanic rocky soils with little nutrients with pH levels of 4.5-6.5. |
| Notable Specimens | Cofre de Perote, Mexico. |
| Habitat | High mountainous altitudes reaching 4,000 m. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Bark thickens and darkens from a light brown to a deeper brown as it ages developing deep fissures creating a scaled-armour appearance. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description | Glossy and resinous a dark amber colour with small green hairs protruding. |
| Leaf Description | The needles grow to about 10-20 cm in length and are stiff. 5 per fascicle and are dark shiny green. |
| Flower Description | Dark purple almost black cones at the tips of the branches. Flowers are monoecious and wind pollinated. |
| Fruit Description | The cones are a dark purple in their youth turning an almost black colour as they mature. When they open they are 5-15 cm in length and 5-8 cm wide. Pollinated in later spring and taking almost 2 years to fully mature, seed wings can have a spread of 2-3 cm. |
| Colour Description | The foliage is green year-round. The younger bark is a lighter brown turning darker with age. Cones start showing as a dark purple aging to an almost black look, with amber buds protruding in a shiny resin coating. |
| Texture Description | The bark has a rough scale like feel with burley stiff branchlets curling upwards. The needles are rigid and pointy and the cones are hard as wood with small points on each scale. |
