{"id":21878,"date":"2023-04-10T15:28:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T19:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=21878"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:56:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:56:52","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-scotch-pine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-scotch-pine\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Scotch Pine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.<\/p>\n

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Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we meet the scotch pine, or\u00a0Pinus sylvestris<\/em>, which is not native to Indiana, but has been widely\u00a0planted in the state for Christmas tree production.<\/p>\n

This conifer, also known as Scots pine, has clusters of two blue green or yellow green needles, which are one to three inches long and do not break when bent.<\/p>\n

Bark on the scotch pine is light gray on the outside and orange in color on the inner bark, but it is not flaky like red pine. Bark on the lower end of the trunk is dark and blocky, while the upper bark is more orange.<\/p>\n

On the tree, cones are cylindrical and pointed at the ends, approximately three inches long and do not have spines at the end of the scales. Cones become more egg shaped as the scales begin to open up once off the tree.<\/p>\n

Scotch pine, which grows to between 25 and 60 feet tall, is typically found on acidic, moist, well-drained soil. It prefers full sun and has some drought tolerance. The species\u2019 native range is Scotland, Scandinavia, northern Europe and northern Asia. According to the\u00a0U.S. Forest Service database<\/a>, It has been introduced across the United States and Canada and is naturalized in the Northeast and in the Great Lakes states.<\/p>\n