General Description

The bark is very fissured and is a pale grey in colour, with dark green needles and silver-white buds.

Landscape

Rock garden, specimen or groundcover plant.

Cultivation

Slightly acidic soils in full sun: urban tolerant.

Shape

Small and compact, with rounded tops.

Growth

Slow

ID Characteristic

Easily identified by its dark green needles and white to silvery buds and fissured, pale grey bark.

Pests

Diplodia tip blight is a major problem and can cause mortality if it isn't pruned off immediately.

Habitat

Horticultural origin.

Bark/Stem Description

Fissured with a grey to light brown and scaled along the branches. As the tree matures, the bark takes on a darker tone, with deeper fissures running vertically.

Flower/Leaf Bud Description

Buds are ovoid to cylindric, resinous, 1 cm in length with a light brown to white colour.

Leaf Description

Fascicles of 2, dark green in colour, 5-7 cm long and sharp at the tip.

Flower Description

The tree is monoecious, male cones are cylindrical and yellow, found in large clusters along the branches. The female cones are oval, and a purple to yellow colour.

Fruit Description

The cones are oval, 2-3 cm long and a pale brown to yellow colour.

Colour Description

The needles a deep dark green, bark a grey to pale yellow. The buds are white to light grey, and cones light brown to pale yellow.

Texture Description

Coarse.

Notable Specimens

Whistling Gardens Wilsonville, Ontario, Canada.

Propagation

Grafting onto the rootstock of Pinus nigra.

Hartmann, Hudson Thomas, and Dale E. Kester. "Plant propagation: principles and practices". 3d ed. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall, 1975. Print. , Bloom, Adrian, and Richard Bloom. "Gardening with conifers". Willowdale, Ont.: Firefly Books, 2002. Print.