Swiss pine

Fragrant Swiss pine panels traditional parlours in the Engadine, and the oldest trees above the Aletsch Glacier are around a thousand years old.

The Swiss pine is a high-mountain conifer with a dense, often multi-topped crown and soft needles in bundles of five. Its heavy cones do not open on their own; the seeds are extracted by the spotted nutcracker, which buries them in the soil as winter stores – some of the forgotten caches germinate and grow into new trees. The Swiss pine withstands frosts below -40°C and grows at the treeline, even above 2,000 m. Its soft, resinous wood keeps its intense scent for a long time.

Significance in the country

In the Engadine and Valais, Swiss pine wood has been used for centuries for panelling, furniture and beds – in Switzerland it is widely believed that its scent improves sleep. The Aletsch Forest reserve above the largest glacier in the Alps protects one of the highest Swiss pine forests in Europe.

Where it grows

Mainly in the drier central valleys of the Alps: in the Engadine and other valleys of Graubünden, in Valais (Aletsch Forest, Zermatt, Val d’Anniviers), as well as in Uri, the Bernese Oberland and northern Ticino.

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