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Japanese black pine Pinaceae Pinus thunbergii Parl. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet play symbol: PITH2
Leaf: Evergreen needles in fascicles of 2, 3 to 5 inches in length, dark green and stout, persisting 2 to 4 years.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males reddish-yellow, in clusters near branch tips appearing in early spring; females reddish and egg-shaped.
Fruit: Woody egg-shaped cone, 2 to 3 inches long, 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, light brown in color, unarmed or with a very minute prickle.
Twig: Light brown, glabrous, in later years turning grayish; buds are large, quite prominent and light reddish brown.
Bark: Dark gray, breaking into irregular, rough scaly plates.
Form: Irregular, wind swept form reaching up to 80 feet tall; in the landscape they often resemble a large Bonzai tree.
 Looks like: red pine - Austrian pine - Japanese red pine

Japanese black pine leaf image
Japanese black pine flower image
Japanese black pine fruit image
Japanese black pine twig image
Japanese black pine bark image
Japanese black pine form image
Japanese black pine map image

Additional Range Information: Pinus thunbergii is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database - Horticulture Information
All material 2025 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information