Pronounciation: PIE-nus rocks-bur-GEE-eye

Hardiness zones
Sunset 5-9, 12-24
USDA 8-11

Landscape Use: Light shade tree with strong upright symmetry makes this a nice skyline tree for mesic and oasis landscape design types in Phoenix. Chir pine is a wonderful greenspace park tree.

Form & Character: Upright, large and imposing, stately, oriental. Chir pine has an open, coarse crown that looks vaguely similar in form (excurrent, open and spreading crown) to Pinus brutia var. eldarica, but with somewhat longer needles that appear to be more sparsely arranged towards the ends of stems and branches.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, woody, narrowleaf perennial tree, strongly excurrent, moderately slow growth to 60-feet tall with lesser spread.

Foliage/Texture: Short-lived (one year) needles, three per fascicle, to 12-inches long, juvenile needles generally not present; needles create a fine texture on an otherwise stout coarse-looking tree.

Flowers & Fruits: Monoecious (male and female strobili born on same tree), cones are relatively small and stout.

Seasonal Color: None

Temperature: Tolerant, but avoid western exposures with reflected light.

Light: Full sun

Soil: Tolerant, but salt sensitive.

Watering: Chir pine does best with regular water, especially during hot summer months.

Pruning: Do not aggressively raise the crown and NEVER thin the crown structure.

Propagation: Seed

Disease and Pests: None

Additional comments: In Asia, chir pine are valued for many uses as a timber tree for construction, furniture, etc., and the trunk as a source of resin. Of all the landscape pines found in Phoenix, chir pine is the least common.