Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Pinus pinaster
Common name
Cluster Pine, Maritime Pine
Family
Pinaceae
Where found
Invading nearby forest from windbreaks and ornamental trees. Coast and ranges north of Nowra. ACT.
Notes
Introduced tree to 40 m tall. Mature female cones with a tiny prickle at the tips of each scale which falls early. Bark grey, becoming black with age, broken into broad, deep, black fissures and flat plates which shed irregularly to leave red-brown scars. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, 8–30 cm long, 2 mm wide, glossy, dark green, margins finely toothed. Leaves in pairs and enclosed within a sheath at the base. Male and female cones on the same plant. Male cones in clusters. Mature female cones brown, 80–250 mm long, 1–3 (rarely more) together, approximately oval to cone-shaped, sometimes lopsided, almost stalkless. Mature female cones made up of many woody scales, each thickened at the top, the tips angular with a prominent conical protuberance on the back. Seeds black, 8–10 mm long, the single wing 20–35 mm long.
The bark has a characteristic dark tan colour and this, combined with the exceptionally thick leaves and milk chocolate-coloured cones, readily distinguishes this pine.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pinus~pinaster (accessed 1 February, 2021)
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