Swiss pine

The high-mountain pine of the Tatras, able to survive for more than a thousand years on rocky cliffs and at the treeline.

The Swiss pine is a pine with a dense, columnar crown and soft needles held in bundles of five. Its cones do not open on their own – the ripe, edible seeds, known as pine nuts, are extracted and dispersed by the spotted nutcracker, a bird of the crow family. It grows slowly in the harsh mountain climate at the upper treeline, often on steep, rocky slopes. Its fragrant, easily worked wood was prized for carving and joinery, which is why Swiss pines were heavily felled in the past.

Significance in the country

In Poland the Swiss pine grows naturally only in the Tatras, where it is a strictly protected species and one of the symbols of Tatra National Park. The old, twisted Swiss pines above Morskie Oko and in the Pańszczyca Valley are among the most photographed trees in the Polish mountains.

Where it grows

Naturally only in the Tatras (Lesser Poland Voivodeship), mainly in the upper montane forest and the dwarf mountain pine zone, including around Morskie Oko, the Valley of the Five Lakes and Hala Gąsienicowa; outside the mountains planted in parks and gardens.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl)