AusBonsai

Hi,
Can anyone help with the ID of this pine, I’m new to them and haven’t worked out whats growing locally yet.

Its a 2 needle pine
Needles are all just over 4”

Scott.

Hi Stenno, I'm no expert and may be wrong on this, but it looks like a pinus radiata to me. I've dug a couple from an area that used to have pinus radiata plantations and there are many that look like yours. Both of mine also looked like that when I diug them, and they are a two needle pine. Cheers, Frank.

Does not look like radiata to me. This one appears to have needles in pairs. P.radiata usually has needles in bunches of 3. Those needles also look quite thick and coarse. P. radiata generally has quite fine, soft needles.

Apart from it being a 2 needle pine species I can't help any further. There are many 2 needle species with only small differences between them. To accurately ID pines you need to look at the bark of mature tree and cones.
Some 2 needle pines that are reasonably common are: European black pine - P. nigra, Slash pine - P. elliottii , Maritime pine - P. pinaster. There are others that have been grown more as ornamentals but don't seem to be as common. There may be some different species around your area and further north the species mix changes again.

For bonsai it does not really matter what species it is. You may need to experiment a bit with maintenance techniques (single flush species V multi flush species) but they all seem to enjoy the same basic cultivation conditions.

Thanks guys,
I only took a couple of pics of some trees nearby, these were 2 needle ones, there were also some 3 needle ones a few hundred metres away
I didnt get any cone shots but will check them again next time Im going through the area


This was the closest tree This was another 2 needle one nearby I’ll just stick with its not a Radiata for now

Scott

Up in your area P. pinaster would be a possibility for feral 2 needle pines. The open habit of those mature trees is about what I'd expect for maritime pine. The description says it has the longest needles of all European pines, up to 25cm long and broader than most, up to 2mm wide. From the scale of the pics with fingers the needles on the smaller one do look quite thick.

Well..... I thought I dug some pinus radiata for myself. Looks like I may have to review that opinion.