Pine banks seeds

Banks' Pine / Pinus banksiana Lamb.

Tree in the area up to 25 m in height, in cultivation 6-18 m in height. The trunk is straight, sometimes branched from the base. The crown is compact, sparse, narrowly oval-conical, in old trees irregular, ovate-conical.

The whorl of branches characteristic of the genus is almost absent. The branches are twisted, the shoots are winding, strong, flexible, brown, young branches are bare, yellowish-green. The bark is orange-gray, then dark red-brown, furrowed, divided into thick scaly plates.

Needles in bunches of 2 pieces, 2-6 cm long, 0.15 cm thick, strongly curved and twisted, sprawling, with a pointed tip, bluntly serrated along the edge, light green to yellow-green, preserved on shoots 2-3 ( 5 years. Cones 3-6.5 cm long, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, narrowed and curved towards the apex, irregularly ovate-conical, often paired, brownish-yellow. Shields of seed scales with a very short spine. The cones remain closed for several years after seed maturation, opening and seeding at irregular intervals.

The seeds are triangular, usually about 0.6 cm long, with a wing up to 1.2 cm long. The resin, which often appears on the shoots, is exceptionally aromatic. It is frost-resistant to -45 °C.