Pinus sylvestris, Scots Pine

Scots Pine is large evergreen tree, conical when young and grows vigorously but more open with flatted top and long bole when becoming older. It is often used for Christmas tree and for furniture, electricity poles etc.

This tall tree is slightly tilting towards a small pond in Howard Park, Glossop. Its trunk is partly shaded by another Scots pine, but overall it receives a lot of sunlight. There are no other trees or shrubs close to it. Soil looks moist and well-drained.

The branches are irregular with broken ones often still remaining lower on the trunk.

Bark is red- or grey brown lower on the trunk and markedly red or orange higher on mature trees.

 Leaves are needles in bunch of two with grey - green or blue-green colour, which can reach up to 7 cm length. They are usually twisted with short point at the tip.

Male flowers are yellow, in clusters forming of a previous year shoots, shedding pollen in late spring.

Female flowers are forming at the tips of new shoots. Crimson at first, they are ripening to brown by late summer and persisting winter. In the second summer they enlarge and become green and conical, ripening to grey-brown in autumn. Scales and shed seeds open on the following spring.