Top

Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Naturalised Distribution
Similar Species
Notes
Print Fact Sheet
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYXZ

Click on images to enlarge

habit (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

habit (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

branches with leaves and clusters of young male cones (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

close-up of needle-like leaves, which are grouped in pairs with their bases enclosed in a sheath (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

leaves and immature female cone (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

close-up of female cone with prominent projections on the scales (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

un-opened mature female cone (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, USGS)

close-up of winged seeds (Photo: Steve Hurst at USDA PLANTS Database)

Pinus pinaster

Scientific Name

Pinus pinaster Aiton

Synonyms

Pinus maritima Lam.

Family

Pinaceae

Common Names

cluster pine, maritime pine, pinaster pine

Origin

Native to north-western Africa (i.e. northern Morocco and Algeria) and southern Europe (i.e. Spain, Portugal, south-western France, northern Italy and Yugoslavia).

Naturalised Distribution

Widey naturalised in southern Australia (i.e. the the ACT, southern Victoria, Tasmania, south-eastern South Australia, and the south-western and southern parts of Western Australia). Also sparingly naturalised on the central tablelands of New South Wales.

Naturalised in the UK, southern Africa, New Zealand, southern South America (e.g. Chile and Uruguay), eastern USA (i.e. North Carolina) and Hawaii.

Similar Species

Cluster pine (Pinus pinaster), is similar to many other pine species that have become naturalised in Australia, including Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), slash pine (Pinus elliottii), radiata pine (Pinus radiata) and Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea). These species can be distinguished by the following differences:

Notes

Cluster pine (Pinus pinaster) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and as a potential environmental weed or "sleeper weed" in other parts of southern Australia.