Pinus mugo, the Mountain Pine or Mugo Pine, is a high-altitude European pine, found in the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern Apennines and Balkan Peninsula mountains from (mostly) 1,000 m to 2,200 m, occasionally as low as 200 m in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high as 2,700 m in the south of the range in Bulgaria or in the Pyrenees.

Subspecies

There are major two subspecies:

• Pinus mugo subsp. mugo in the east and south of the range (southern & eastern Alps, Balkan peninsula), a low, shrubby, often multi-stemmed plant to 3–6 m tall with symmetrical cones.
• Pinus mugo subsp. uncinata in the west and north of the range (Pyrenees northeast to Poland), a larger, usually single-stemmed tree to 20 m tall with asymmetrical cones (the scales are much thicker on one side of the cone than the other). The two subspecies intergrade extensively (hybrid subspecies rotundata) in the western Alps and northern Carpathians. Some botanists treat the western subspecies as a separate species, Pinus uncinata, others as only a variety, Pinus mugo var. rostrata. This subspecies in the Pyrenees mark the alpine tree line or timberline, the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing.

Pinus mugo subsp. uncinata at 2,200 m in the Néouvielle massif, France.

Both subspecies have similar foliage, with dark green leaves ("needles") in pairs, 3–7 cm long. The cones are nut-brown, 2.5-5.5 cm long, symmetrical, thin-scaled and matt texture in subsp. mugo, asymmetrical with thick scales on the upper side of the cone, thin on the lower side, and glossy, in subsp. uncinata.

An old name for the species Pinus montana is still occasionally seen, and a typographical error "mugho" (first made in a prominent 18th century encyclopedia) is still repeated surprisingly often.

Uses

Cultivation

A number of cultivars have been selected for ornamental use in parks and gardens. The cultivars P. mugo 'Mops'^[2] and 'Pumilio' group ^[3] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Security

The smaller P. mugo subsp. mugo, is used by homeowners and landscape architects for home security purposes. The needles deter unauthorised persons from entering private properties, and may prevent break-ins if planted under windows and near drainpipes.

Culinary use

A recent trend is the increase in use of the Mugo Pine in cooking. Buds and young cones are harvested from the wild in the spring and left to dry in the sun over the summer and into the fall. The cones and buds gradually drip syrup, which is then boiled down to a concentrate and combined with sugar to make pine syrup.^[4][5] Menus also use the terms "pinecone syrup"^[6] or "pine cone syrup"^[7] to refer to this ingredient.

Invasive species

P. mugo is a classed as a wilding conifer, an invasive species that spreads in the high country of New Zealand.

Images

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  Pinus mugo subsp. mugo in Romania.

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  Pinus mugo at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, USA.

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  Pinus mugo 'Valley Cushion' at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

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  Young cones

References

• Christensen, K. I. (1987). Taxonomic revision of the Pinus mugo complex and P. × rhaetica (P. mugo × sylvestris) (Pinaceae). Nordic J. Bot. 7: 383-408.
• Gymnosperm Database - Pinus mugo
• Arboretum de Villadebelle - photos of cones (scroll down page)