AusBonsai

Does anyone know of anyone that stocks Aleppo pines?
There are a couple of 150 year old specimens that I drive past on a frequent basis and think they would be a great bonsai subject.
Cheers

G,day Banksiaman, are you sure they are Pinus halepensis and not P, pinea as they are very similar in appearance.
The difference I have seen is that pinea as a far superior Bark.
As it is more like the other pines that are coverted, and the halepensis I have seen has a smooth bark much like the Cedrus.

Cheers Pup

Hi pup, I am only going on the name that the property owner has given me, these trees are about 80 feet in height and have a very orange deeply fissured , almost corklike bark, I will try and get out there in the next couple of days and take some pics.
Cheers

Not the best pics, but hopefully enough for a positive guess

Paul B wrote:

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Not the best pics, but hopefully enough for a positive guess

hi. this is pinus pinea. halepensis bark its black and very corky.

Isn't halepensis the 'lone pine' variety?

There is a very nice one often seen at club meetings in Melbourne. I believe it came from Canberra originally and that either Grant or Leigh has another in Canberra.
The "Lone Pine" at Gallipoli is a pinus halepensis.
While at Conifer Gardens nursery 2 weeks ago I saw a pine called "Little Anzac", now I am wishing that I had taken a closer look.

The Diggers' Club has tube stock for sale.
Penny.

Should be very easy to differentiate between halapensis and pinea by cones and especially the seeds. P. pinea is the source of 'pine nuts'. It has a large, fat cone larger than a fist? say 10-15 cm x 8-10 cm. When mature the cones open and shed the seeds onto the ground (if the cockies don't get them first). The seeds are inside a hard shell with no wing. At this time of year there should be plenty of old cones on the ground that will still have a few seeeds in them and if you look a bit more carefully you will find the seeds on the ground as well. Seeds are about 1 cm long x 6mm wide. The hard woody shell that splits in half to reveal the kernel (pine nut) that we eat. Halapensis cones should be more 'cone' shaped when green but open out to ball shape when mature and dry. The seeds will be small and have a wing like most pine seeds but no hard shell.
Difficult to tell from the pics but P.pinea also has a distinctive mature umbrella shape. Most branches are upright with foliage at the tips to give an almost flat topped tree shape.
P. halapensis usually has a typical pine shape depending on conditions but usually has a more rounded canopy than pinea.

mudlarkpottery wrote:The Diggers' Club has tube stock for sale.
Penny.

What or where is the Diggers club? Contact details Penny?

I have been eager to get some Halapensis for a while now, ( had a few seeds from Steven and 1 germminated but did not survive )

As we all know the story of Lone Pine at Gallipoli, and the digger that brought home a cone. The tree in Melbourne gardens was germinated from this cone by the diggers Mum, and from that the RSL germinated several others from this tree, One of which is at the War Memorail in Canberra.

Ken

Ken, I picked up a halapensis tube when our club was in Canberra last, I got it from a random nursery, it also had a large write up on the lone pine, I still have the tag and if you like I can have a look for the propagating nursery on it.

Mick

Hi Ken.
The Diggers' Club - diggers refers to gardening not soldiers - is based in Dromana. They have rare and unusual seeds and plants as well as some of the more common ones. You can check out their website. I've been a member for over ten years and bought lots of stuff from them including an Aleppo pine (which died after about five years). From what I remember, it grew well up until that time. They have lots of interesting fruit and veggie seeds and plants and trees - quite a lot are suitable for bonsai.
Penny.

Thanks Mick and Penny

If you can find the info mick will be great.

Ken

I have a stack of Stone pine (pinus pinea) and i have been playing with them for a while. They back bud readily and get nice movement all on their own. It might be time to get serious with one.

I saw a rather nice one at the convention in Fremantle last year a slanting one.

I think it belongs to a member here. I was told he was to do a presentation on minatures, but could not get to see it you had to be a deligate or something.

Harry