AusBonsai

I'm going with the exotic invasive weed the Triffad sp.

I would be more definite about but I haven't seen any bright meteor showers and mass blindings recently. It would need to be in a tall sided pot to stop them wondering off.

All betting is about to finish last call for all bets to be placed now.just be prepared there might be some disapointment. Come one come all the grand moment you have all been waiting is it a boabab no is it a moonus pinus or mabye some other extra terrestrial speciman. The anticipation is
Killing me.

Pinus Radiata.
I'm not 100% but I mostly sure. It should have a very "pine" smell to the resin and leaves, as well as paired leaves. That's what in the lawn is like anyway.

I'm just happy I got to make a Day of the Triffads joke.

Now we have some pics we can get a bit more serious.
Juvenile needles do not look like radiata and most radiata should have adult needles in 3s rather than pairs.
I have seen this bluish juvenile foliage on Stone pine (Pinus pinea) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halapensis) but in my experience juvenile foliage is quite persistent on Aleppo - Adult needles do not appear for several years.

In your area Aleppo pine would be reasonably common because it tolerates dry and hot and was planted extensively in the past. Stone pine would grow there but is not quite as common. Mature stone pines have a distinctive 'flat top' or 'umbrella' shape and thicker needles.

Some pics of the adult trees would give further clues - adult bark colour and texture, shape and habit of the trees, cone shape and size are all identifiers.

Thank you as always time8. It has a very strong pine smell. There was also a couple of larger about 10feet tall conical shaped pines in very close proximity Parent trees possibly.

shibui wrote:I have seen this bluish juvenile foliage on Stone pine (Pinus pinea)

Think you are on the money here Shibui.

Still more info needed Bodhi.

There was also a couple of larger about 10feet tall conical shaped pines in very close proximity Parent trees possibly

has me a bit worried. Stone pines would usually be much bigger than that before they start to produce seed and younger stone pines typically have a rounded canopy.
Are there any other larger pines in the vicinity Jade - Parents could be up to 50m away from these trees? and if you can find some cones that would be good too.

Here this might make it easier there alot of big guys out the back bodhi couldnt get a photo up close but sorry. But I got some cuttings from the big trees in back ground from the law abiding side of the fence.ment] theres also only to sort of pine in this area.

That cone rules out Pinus pinea and looks more like Pinus halapensis.
The finer, lighter coloured foliage is also right for halapensis but there are several other species that are closely related to P. halapensis that I have not seen so, while I think it is likely to be Pinus halapensis it still could be a few other, less well known but similar species.

The seed is probably coming from the mature trees in the background. The one in the foreground of your pic is probably not mature enough to produce cones yet.

Looking at the bark I think it is P, halapensis also, pinea has rougher bark, foliage is very similar though.

Cheers Pup

Thankyou shibui for your help mate. Now just wait for them to grow on for a while and see how we go from there. Are the p. Halapensis very common bonsai subjects shibui. Again thanks bodhi and time8

I have an Aleppo pine I collected with the club. Radiata, I should have stuck with triffad.

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=11537&p=121924&hi ... ne#p121924

Thank you for your re assurance pup.
Triffad : lol:

I have seen some collected P. halapensis as bonsai but not many.
I tried them for a while but had too much trouble with branches lengthening and little back budding so eventually got rid of them in favour of Japanese Black pines which grow and develop quicker and easier here. Certainly worth trying halapensis in your climate though. You will need to learn how to pinch and prune to make sure the branches do not elongate too much and to make sure you have plenty of shoots along the branches.

The 'Lone Pine' of gallipoli fame was originally thought to have been P. halapensis but the trees grown in Australia from cones collected from the ground after the battle have been identified as the closely related P. brutia (Turkish pine) which used to be classed as a variety or subspecies of P. halapensis. It is possible that these trees (and maybe most of what we call P. halapensis??? in Aust) could be P. brutia - I do not know what differences there are between the 2.
The tree that has been planted at the Lone Pine cemetary on Gallipoli turns out to be P. pinea (stone pine) which probably shows how much alike these species are.
In NZ the trees planted as 'lone pines' are actually P. radiata and another is a stone pine.

I have two P,pinea and a friend has P, halepensis my two shoot back readily on old wood, his does not so he treats it like a JBP

I have found pinea to be very easy to work as they are very forgiving.

Cheers Pup