Pronounciation: PIE-nus pie-NAY-a

Hardiness zones
Sunset 5-24
USDA 6-11

Landscape Use: This pine casts a light shade and has a rounded symmetry that is great for parks and residential neighborhoods. Also, makes a fine bonsai tree.

Form & Character: Upright and very rounded, globular, 'lolly pop' form even when young becoming more wide spreading with age, Mediterranean.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, woody, narrowleaf perennial tree, decurrent, very slow growth rate when young to moderate with age eventually reaching heights of 40 to 60 feet with a somewhat greater spread, such as this mature specimen in Toulouse, France. Heights in Phoenix more towards 30-feet range.

Foliage/Texture: Needles two per fascicle, 5- to 6-inches long, juvenile needles small blue and and persistent when tree is young, not present on older, mature trees; fine texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Monoecious (male and female strobili born on same tree), cones are ovoid shaped to 5-inches long.

Seasonal Color: None

Temperature: Tolerant

Light: Full sun

Soil: Tolerant

Watering: Little supplemental irrigation once established, needle luster (length and density) enhanced with supplemental water during summer.

Pruning: Elevate canopy base

Propagation: Seed

Disease and Pests: None

Additional comments: Italian stone pine is an absolutely tough lollypop-shaped pine that can be used in coastal or desert areas in the American Southwest. However, it is not commonly found in the Phoenix area for reasons that are not clear to me other than its comical rounded shape - it's a great pine for the larger mesic and oasis urban landscape green spaces.

Nutritional factoids: Italian stone pine has tasty pine fruits (known as pine nuts or pinoli) that are of high nutritional value eaten raw or roasted. The tree has been cultivated for its nuts in Europe for over 6,000 years....and harvested from wild trees for far longer.