Spotlight on Scots Pine

The Scots Pine is an evergreen tree, so it has leaves all year round. They are a deep green colour, finely lined with a bluish-grey hue.

The needles occur in pairs which helps distinguish them from some other pines that have 3 or 5 per bundle and are shorter than most other pines, about 4-7cm.

The tree has both male and female flowers, which are wind-pollinated, so there are no petals to attract insects. 

The female flowers are at the tips of the shoots, while the male flowers, which contain the pollen, are further down the shoots.

After pollination, the female flowers develop into green closed cones, which open the following year to release the winged pine seeds within.

They are conical when young, becoming more egg-shaped or slightly flattened at maturity.

The seeds of the ripe pine cones are the favourite food of the red squirrel, which is well able to extract them from the woody cones. 

Bees make propolis from resin that oozes out of cracks in the bark. They use this in their hives to seal and protect cells. It also protects the bees themselves from viruses and bacteria. 

There are 91 species of insects that depend on the Scots Pine for their existence.

In the ancient Irish Ogham alphabet, pine represented the first vowel - A. It was also the tree of the second month in the Ogham Tree Calendar, from November 29 to December 26. 

As an evergreen, the pine keeps its leaves through the winter. Because it burns brightly, it was associated with festivals welcoming the return of the sun after the winter solstice around 21 December.

In early Irish law, pine was considered to be one of the Nobles of the Wood. This was because resin was collected from the living tree and used for sealing boats by caulking and for preserving wood.

Great forests of Scots pine once covered our mountains. Six thousand years ago, the first farmers – the Neolithic people came to Ireland. They brought with them cattle, which needed open land for grazing.

The Scots Pine forests were cleared around this time, due to human influence, and the growth of the blanket bog began where the forests had once been. However, their roots were preserved in the anaerobic acidic substrate.

To this day, the remains of those pine trees, known as bog deal, turn up in those western blanket bogs when they are being cut for turf.