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Timbers - Scots Pine

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English name, Scots Pine. Also known as European redwood or Deal and confusingly also known as a whitewood?

Remarks, Our only home grown native softwood. Mainly in Scotland. A good strong timber, but mainly used internally.

Family, Pinaceae.
Genus, Pinus.
Species, Pinus sylvestris.

Age, 200-300 years. Some over 600 years old. The oldest is called a Bristlecone Pine (Pinus logaeva), nicknamed “Methuselah”, in the South West, North America. One example is 4,700 years old!!

Height, 35-40m.

Tree shape, Broadly spreading.

Leaf Type, Evergreen.

Leaves shape, Needle like, stout and twisted to 7cm blue green grey colour.

Flowering, May/June.

Flowers colour, Male yellow/Female red.

Fruit, Egg shaped cone 7.5cm long.

Bark, Purple grey peeling in irregular plates, orange and flaking towards top of plant.

Native region, Asia and Europe.

Natural habitat, Mountains.

Weight, Green 700 kg/m3. Air dried 530 kg/m3.

Maturity, 15 years.

Soil type, Sandy or gravely soil.

Wood type, Softwood.

Timber colour, Very pale, but distinctive yellow, will darken with age.

Durability, Slightly durable. (1 very durable, 2 durable, 3 moderately durable, 4 slightly durable, 5 not durable).

Treatable, Extremely difficult. (Easy, moderate easy, difficult, extremely difficult).

Moisture movement, Medium.
Environmental, Not listed as an endangered species.

Availability, Readily available at good timber merchants.

Cost, Low.

Drying, Dries quickly after felling without to much warping or distortion. The tree needs to be cut into boles quickly to start the drying process as soon as possible. There is a fungi called Ceratocystis or Ophiostoma which can be carried by some beetles. If the timber is not dried quickly then the fungi can turn the timber a slight blue colour. This will not affect the load bearing capabilities of the timber, just effect the appearance.

Working qualities, Medium. The timber can be worked well the hand tools or machine, with machine care needs to be taken that edges are sharp as the timber can sometimes break out at cut edges. The edges of cutting tools will also needs to be cleaned from time to time to remove resin build up. The timber can have a nice smooth finish, it can also be stained, painted, varnished, glued and nailed satisfactorily.

Uses, Turning, staircases, furniture, window frames, door frames, panelling, shingles.

Information, 125 different types of Pines worldwide.
After the last ice age (10,000 years ago), Pine was one of the most common trees (along with Birch), covering most of Europe.
Pine is a pioneer tree, it is one of the first trees to re colonise old industrial site, or places that have had forest fires.
The smallest Pine is called Dwarf Pine and the largest is called Sugar Pine.
The rotting pine needles acidify the soil around the mother tree and so prevent hard wood growing near by.
Pine is denser and more resinous than spruce and so is more durable.
Also harvested for Christmas tree.
Pines have no insect or decay resistance qualities after felling, so are recommended for indoor use only.
Left outdoors the timber is not expected to last more than 1-2 years depending on the environment.