Common Name: Austrian pine
Type: Needled evergreen
Family: Pinaceae
Zone: 2 to 8
Height: 2.00 to 5.00 feet
Spread: 1.50 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: Non-flowering
Bloom Description: Non-flowering
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Leaf: Evergreen
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Deer, Air Pollution
Culture
Grow in medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions including clay. Tolerant of some dry conditions. Generally tolerant of urban conditions. Pruning is not necessary, but may be performed annually in spring to thicken plant as well as maintain dwarf habit and desired shape.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Pinus nigra, commonly called Austrian pine or European black pine, is a medium to large conifer that is native from central and southeastern Europe to western Asia. It grows 40-60’ tall over time (less frequently to 100’). Trees exhibit a dense pyramidal habit in youth. Crown rounds with age forming a spreading flat top or dome. From an ornamental standpoint, older trees can be quite attractive, featuring dense spreading branching, stiff dark green needles (3-6” long) in bundles of two and plate-like, furrowed, dark brown to black bark. Oval, stalkless cones (to 3” long) mature to brown.
Var. laricio, commonly called Corsican pine, is native to Corsica and Spain as well as Central and Southern Europe to Turkey and Greece. It is noted for its tall, graceful symmetry and more open branching and less dense, but longer needles. It can grow up to 160 feet high.
Genus name comes from the Latin name for pines.
Specific epithet means black.
'Globosa Viridis' is a slow-growing (3-6” per year), dwarf, needled evergreen with a dense, upright, broad conical to pyramidal habit. Typically matures to 3-5’ tall over the first 10 years, but may be trimmed shorter. Long, deep green needles in bundles of two. Needles at the shoot ends are light green.
Uses
Dwarf evergreen for foundation plantings and rock gardens.