Italian stone pine Pinaceae Pinus pinea L. symbol: PIPI7 Leaf: Evergreen needles, to 5 inches long in fascicles of 2, thin, straight, blue-green, persistent fascicle sheath. Flower: Species is monoecious; males cylindrical, in tight cluster at branch tips; females small, reddish purple with loose scales at branch tips. Fruit: Woody cone, 3 to 5 inches long, brown, broadly rounded, thick rounded cone scales unarmed; bearing large edible pine nuts. Twig: Moderately stout, ash-gray to gray-brown; buds ovoid with red-brown scales. Bark: Light gray and smooth when young, turning reddish brown and furrowed, eventually developing plates with black edges. Form: Usually a medium sized tree up to 70 feet tall but can attain 120 feet, with an umbrella-shaped crown. Looks like: Aleppo pine - sand pine Additional Range Information: Pinus pinea is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. External Links: USDA Plants Database Horticulture © Copyright 2016, Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, all rights reserved. Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson