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Pinus heldreichii Crist. var. leucodermis

The tree is 22 meters tall and its circumference is 3.05 meters. It is an evergreen and long living tree which belongs to the family of the Pinaceae and hails from the north-east area of the Mediterranean. Thanks to its stout and deep root system it is able to stand to aridity and adverse weather conditions. It a xerophilous plant which prefers calcareous soils. The Pinus heldreichii grows only in Albania Greece (Mount Olympus area), while the Leucodermis specie grows in the cental-occidental area of the Balkan Peninsula and in the Pollino area in Italy, where it is considered a protected species and it is the symbol of the National Park. These plants can be considered natural monuments, thanks to their high contents of resin, also after death, since they rot slowly and so are able to stand for long times. The wood was anciently used to build chests resistant to the saltiness for long sea journeys. It is called “Pioca” in the local dialect. The cortex cracks forming wide chips, which give to the trunk the look of a lorica squamata, a metallic corset worn by the leggionaires of Ancient Rome. For this reason, the plant has been named Loricate Pine.

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