Ohio Trees - Austrian Pine - Austrian Pine Trees

Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
Ohio State Parks
2045 Morse Road, Building C
Columbus OH 43229-6693

Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra)

An evergreen tree from the Pine Family (Pinaceae)

3-7

40'

60'

medium

full

spreading and open

moist, well-drained

Austrian Pine, an evergreen conifer, is native from western Europe to Asia Minor including Austria in central Europe, for which it is named. It has been widely planted in eastern and midwestern North America because of its bold texture, fullness of foliage, dark-green needles, and adaptability to urban conditions.

In youth, Austrian Pine has its limbs and foliage drape completely to the ground, but at maturity, its lower limbs are usually absent, and thus its trunk is exposed to continuous sunlight. When this happens, its bark takes on a checkered appearance, sometimes with black and white irregular bands, strips, or platy blocks. In addition, its crown becomes spreading and open, rather than dense and tightly pyramidal.

In open situations, Austrian Pine may grow to 60 feet tall by 40 feet wide, with a medium growth rate. As a member of the Pine Family, it is related to other Pines as well as the Firs, Larches, Spruces, and Hemlocks.

Planting Requirements - Austrian Pine is one of the most adaptable pines to a wide variety of environmental conditions. It prefers soils that are moist and well-drained, but adapts to heavy clay soils that are moist and at times poorly drained, or sandy soils that are moist and salty. It is one of the best pines for tolerating winter salt spray to its foliage, salt deposition around its root zone, and soils of alkaline pH and is therefore an excellent pine for roadsides and city streets. It grows in zones 3 to 7, and can be utilized as a solitary specimen or in mass plantings, such as for windbreaks and visual screens.

Potential Problems - Austrian Pine is the pine that is most susceptible to Diplodia tip blight, a disease that will slowly kill the tree over several years, and can wreak havoc in mass plantings as it spreads from a single infection to the surrounding trees. Affected branch tips die every year, and the disease progresses to surrounding branches every year, creating dead sectors with persistent brown needles.

The best method of control is yearly inspection of the branch tips, with removal of affected branches or implementation of an annual spray program in spring. Alternatively, infected trees can be entirely removed. Austrian Pine is also subject to pine nematode, a microscopic pest transmitted by a beetle. This results in blockage of the vascular systems and can quickly kill the tree, even in one growing season.
Leaf Identification Features

Austrian Pine has dark green needles that occur as two per bundle. These six-inch long, thick, stiff needles persist between four and eight years on the stout twigs and branchlets, giving the twigs and branchlets of this pine tree an extremely dense and bold-textured appearance.

The major disease of Austrian Pine is Diplodia tip blight, which initially infests the stems and needles at the tips of branches, often starting with the lowermost branches.
Other Identification Features

In spring, the pollen-bearing, orange-yellow male (staminate) flowers of Austrian Pine emerge with the thick new shoots (candles) and fertilize the reddish pistillate female flowers (immature cones), often on a nearby branch. Thus, Austrian Pine, like most evergreens, is a monoecious species.

At maturity, the brown cones are about three inches long, and have small prickles on the backside of their scales. They spread their scales to release their seeds, and remain on the tree for up to several years.

The mature shape of Austrian Pine varies from one tree to the next, but most are limbed up and have either a flat-topped crown with upswept, spreading branches, or retain a pyramidal crown with downswept branches.

The bark on young trees of Austrian Pine is almost always covered by the thick lower canopy of evergreen branches. But, once sunlight hits the trunk of older trees that have been limbed up, the mature bark sometime takes on a checkered appearance. Although exact colors vary, the furrows are a darker brown to black, while the broad, flattened ridges range from light gray to light brown to chalky white.

Contact Information

Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
Ohio State Parks
2045 Morse Road, Building C
Columbus OH 43229-6693