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Pinus leucodermis (Pinaceae)

The Loricate Pine is called in this way because of the aspect of its cortex, which resembles the cuirasses of Roman armours. It lives only on the elevations of Basilicata and Calabria.

It is the symbol of the Pollino Natural Park since 1970 and it grows in solitude an undisturbed in a beech tree wood. It is 12 meters tall; its trunk circumference is 6.04 meters and is 985 years old.

Its aspect is incredible: the cortex is grey-white, the roots clutch to the rock and the twisted branches, when covered with leaves, make it look like a bonsai. Like the other specimens it looks like a living sculpture, smoothed by time and adapted to live in extreme environmental conditions.

If you find yourself in Pollino Natural Park, it is not possible to visit it.

How to reach the park:

Drive on the highway Salerno-Reggio Calabria, exit at Campotenese (CS) and follow the signals for Colle dell’Impiso, from this point it is possible to walk to Pollinello and reach the tree.

Botanical characteristics of the Loricata Pine:

This specie hails from the Balkan area and reached southern Italy during the quaternal glaciation, where now it is a residual specie.

The scientific name of the specie is Pinus leucodermis and it indicates the shiny grey-white colour of the cortex of mature trees.

The botanist Biagio Longo identified it in 1905 and he was the first one to recognise it as a new specie and to name it.

The plant is present in Italy only in the mountains of Basilicata and Calabria, in particular the area of distribution covers an area of 5678 ha; 50% massiccio del Pollino, 38% coastal area e 12% Lucanian mountain group. It grows in rupestrian locations and detrital conoids between 500 and 2100 meters of altitude.

The specie tends to form open woods or to remain isolated on rocks.

The oldest specimens of this specie, which are around 1,000 years old, can be found in Pollino Natural Park, above the beech tree wood.

They have adapted to extreme weather conditions which last all year long, for example the average annual temperature on the Pollino (2,000 meters of altitude) is of 4°c and snow is present from November till May.

The wood was used in ancient times to build boots to charge inside ships, which had to cover long distances, since it is resistant to the saltiness.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)