Pinus sylvestris
Pinus sylvestris is a coniferous evergreen tree of up to 35 meters in height. It is commonly known as the Scots Pine, and also Scotch Pine, European Red Pine or Baltic Pine. It is native to Eurasia although in the south it is confined to higher elevations. It is mainly found on poor sandy soils and rocky outcrops, peat bogs or close to the forest limits. On more fertile soils it is often out-competed.
Funky Facts File: The timber is known as red deal or yellow deal; and the ‘deal’ is adopted from an archaic term for a certain volume measure of wood. Once widespread across the British Isles, it now only occurs naturally in Scotland forming the Caledonian Forest which once stretched across much of the highlands. It suffered from grazing sheep and deer and was even cleared deliberately to deter wolves.
