Bosnian pine

Pirin is home to the “Baikushev pine” – a Bosnian pine about 1,300 years old and one of Bulgaria’s oldest trees.

A conifer growing to 30 m, with a broadly conical crown and grey bark cracked into distinctive plates resembling snakeskin. Its stiff, dark green needles are borne in pairs, and young cones are violet-blue. The species grows on limestone rock and steep slopes in the high mountains of the Balkans and southern Italy, often right at the upper treeline. It withstands strong winds, frost and poor soil, and individual trees live for over a thousand years.

Significance in the country

The Baikushev pine in Pirin National Park near Bansko, around 1,300 years old, is Bulgaria’s most famous tree, visited by thousands of tourists. Pirin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the species’ main stronghold in the country.

Where it grows

Almost exclusively in Pirin and the neighbouring Slavyanka massif in the south-west of the country (Blagoevgrad Province), on marble rocks in the upper forest zone.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl)