Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia) is closely related to Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis). It is of East Mediterranean origin, primarily in Turkey and far Eastern Greece, secondarily in the Crimea, Caucasus coast, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Crete and Cyprus. It is also found in the Italian province of Calabria (in Roman times: Brutia), but was probably imported there. Calabrian pine is planted widely in Israel. Spontaneous hybrids with Aleppo pine can be found in places where the two species grow next to one another.

Pinus brutia is a coastal tree and is a drought resistant pine that withstands more aridity and poor soils than most timber species growing in Mediterranean climate. Although it requires mild winters, some of its provenances can grow successfully, out of its natural habitat, on sites of drier and cooler climate. Besides its good performance on poor sites, as a hardy species, it also has considerably faster growth rate on good sites. The species grows from sea level to the elevation of 1,300 m. The species is hardy and highly adaptable to various types of soils.
Pinus brutia is a medium size tree to 27-35 m, with a usually open crown of irregular branches. The annual growth of this species consists in one or more flushes, the number of which varies from one to six.
The bark on the lower trunk is thick, scaly, fissured, patterned red-brown and buff, and thin, flaky and orange-red higher in the crown. The shoots are slender, 3-7 mm thick, grey-buff, and rough. The winter buds are ovoid-acute, with red-brown scales with long free tips revolute and fringed with white hairs. The adult needle like leaves 10-18 cm long are retained for 1.5-2.5 years. They appear in fascicles of two with a persistent 1-1.5 cm sheath. They are bright green to yellow-green, slender, about 1mm thick, with serrulate margins, fine lines of stomata on both faces, and several marginal resin canals. The juvenile leaves are glaucous, 1.5-4 cm long, and continue to be grown for 2-4 years, mixed with the first adult foliage produced from 9 months from seed.
Pinus brutia seedlings start bearing male and famale flowers when 4-5 years old. Male and female flowers are found on same general branch but usually on different shoots. It is possible to observe that some trees bear only male or female flowers. The male flowers become visible at the mid of January, as clusters of yellow stamens, set in groups on leafy twigs. Pollen shedding usually begins at the first half of March and ends at the last half of May.
Pistillate flowers can be born at the tip of new shoots or they can be in lateral position on shoots. They form ovoid strobili in redish-brown color. After fertilization, they only develop into small green, nut-like as immature cones, during the first year. During their second year they expand rapidly and reach full size 2.2 to 12.5 cm long and get matured at the end of year. The maturity of cones is reached in March of their third year.
The cones are erect to forward pointing on short stout stalks, symmetrical, situated perpendicular to the branch, unlike the cones of Pinus halepensis which grow on a short bending stalk that forms an acute angle with the branch. The cones open the same summer or 1-2 years later, to 5-8 cm broad, though the seeds are often not shed till winter rain softens the scales. The scales are short, broad, thick, woody, and very stiff. The seeds are grey-brown, 7-8 × 5mm with a broad, auricled 15-20 × 10 mm wing, yellow-buff streaked darker brown.
The optimum germination temperature for red pine is 25C, the seeds are very sensitive to lower temperatures from 15C but less sensitive to higher temperatures from 30C-35C. The optimum moisture for germination is 70 percent.

Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia) is closely related to Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis). It is of East Mediterranean origin, primarily in Turkey and far Eastern Greece, secondarily in the Crimea, Caucasus coast, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Crete and Cyprus. It is also found in the Italian province of Calabria (in Roman times: Brutia), but was probably imported there. Calabrian pine is planted widely in Israel. Spontaneous hybrids with Aleppo pine can be found in places where the two species grow next to one another.

Pinus brutia is a coastal tree and is a drought resistant pine that withstands more aridity and poor soils than most timber species growing in Mediterranean climate. Although it requires mild winters, some of its provenances can grow successfully, out of its natural habitat, on sites of drier and cooler climate. Besides its good performance on poor sites, as a hardy species, it also has considerably faster growth rate on good sites. The species grows from sea level to the elevation of 1,300 m. The species is hardy and highly adaptable to various types of soils.
Pinus brutia is a medium size tree to 27-35 m, with a usually open crown of irregular branches. The annual growth of this species consists in one or more flushes, the number of which varies from one to six.
The bark on the lower trunk is thick, scaly, fissured, patterned red-brown and buff, and thin, flaky and orange-red higher in the crown. The shoots are slender, 3-7 mm thick, grey-buff, and rough. The winter buds are ovoid-acute, with red-brown scales with long free tips revolute and fringed with white hairs. The adult needle like leaves 10-18 cm long are retained for 1.5-2.5 years. They appear in fascicles of two with a persistent 1-1.5 cm sheath. They are bright green to yellow-green, slender, about 1mm thick, with serrulate margins, fine lines of stomata on both faces, and several marginal resin canals. The juvenile leaves are glaucous, 1.5-4 cm long, and continue to be grown for 2-4 years, mixed with the first adult foliage produced from 9 months from seed.
Pinus brutia seedlings start bearing male and famale flowers when 4-5 years old. Male and female flowers are found on same general branch but usually on different shoots. It is possible to observe that some trees bear only male or female flowers. The male flowers become visible at the mid of January, as clusters of yellow stamens, set in groups on leafy twigs. Pollen shedding usually begins at the first half of March and ends at the last half of May.
Pistillate flowers can be born at the tip of new shoots or they can be in lateral position on shoots. They form ovoid strobili in redish-brown color. After fertilization, they only develop into small green, nut-like as immature cones, during the first year. During their second year they expand rapidly and reach full size 2.2 to 12.5 cm long and get matured at the end of year. The maturity of cones is reached in March of their third year.
The cones are erect to forward pointing on short stout stalks, symmetrical, situated perpendicular to the branch, unlike the cones of Pinus halepensis which grow on a short bending stalk that forms an acute angle with the branch. The cones open the same summer or 1-2 years later, to 5-8 cm broad, though the seeds are often not shed till winter rain softens the scales. The scales are short, broad, thick, woody, and very stiff. The seeds are grey-brown, 7-8 × 5mm with a broad, auricled 15-20 × 10 mm wing, yellow-buff streaked darker brown.
The optimum germination temperature for red pine is 25C, the seeds are very sensitive to lower temperatures from 15C but less sensitive to higher temperatures from 30C-35C. The optimum moisture for germination is 70 percent.

Known as 'pitys' to the ancient Greeks, this is the most important forest tree in the north-eastern Mediterranean area. A sap-sucking insect Marchalina hellenica produces large amounts of honey-dew, harvested by honeybees and sold as 'pine honey'. Pinus brutia was planted outside its native range in Greece from early times for this harvest.

Written by Amram Eshel