Family: Pinaceae
Species: Pinus mugo Turra
Common name: Pino mugo, Barancio, Pino montano - English: Creeping pine, Dwarf mountain pine
Etymology
The name was chosen by Antonio Turra, a doctor and naturalist from Vicenza. Pinus derives from the Latin name for pine, connected to the Sanskrit “pítu” (resinous); mugo comes from the Arabic diminutive “musk” (moss), referring to a ruminant with an odorous gland, and hence takes on the meaning of aromatic, mossy.
Description
Pinus mugo is a bushy shrub with prostrate branches ascending towards the apex, reaching a height of two to five metres. The main trunk is erect but forms a series of secondary trunks that are more or less prostrate. The grey-brown bark becomes scaly with age. The needle-like leaves are grouped in bundles of two and persist for 3–9 years. They are slightly twisted, finely toothed, robust and prickly, dark green in colour, and become progressively shorter towards the apex of the branch.
The male flowers are grouped in "spikes" of oblong cones on the lower parts of the young branches; they are yellow and turn brownish when the abundant pollen matures. The small female cones, grouped on the terminal part of the new shoots, are a striking violet or purple, reminiscent of the small fruit that will later develop.
The conical-ovoid pine cones are solitary or occur in whorls of two to four. They bear mostly oblique or horizontal orientations and mature in the third year. Almost devoid of a peduncle, they are brown with prickles on the scales, 3–5 cm long, and contain tiny, dark, winged seeds.
Habitat
Found in mountain regions of Europe and Asia.
Properties and Uses
Pinus mugo was traditionally used to make kitchen utensils and to ring barrels. Due to the small size of its trunks, the wood was suitable only for minor tasks or as fuel. The wood from the roots and the resinous wood of the branches were historically used to make torches.
It was also used to produce resin from which ointments were prepared for rheumatic conditions and lung diseases. Deep, rectangular cuts were made at the base of the trunks, and a concave collector was applied to gather the resin in a bowl. The wound in the trunk subsequently healed, forming a callus in the bark. This technique has since been abandoned; nowadays, the distillation of the needles and small branches is practised, yielding the "mugolio", a fragrant essential oil used as a balsamic and anti-inflammatory.
Notes and Curiosities
Pinus mugo is very resistant to the cold and retains snow, thus helping to prevent avalanches. It is the only form of mountain pine present in the Apennines. Forestry experts use P. mugo to protect the young plants of more “precious” trees, such as P. silvestris. When planted between these, it offers protection and prevents spontaneous plants from suffocating the younger trees.
In the Dolomite landscape and the central-eastern Alps, Pinus mugo is typically found alongside species that thrive in calcareous soils, such as Rhododendrons; it rarely appears on siliceous substrates.
Various dwarf varieties of mountain pine are ideal for rock gardens because they can root and develop on stony ground. In the Heller Botanical Garden, they are found in the alpine flora flowerbed, clinging to three distinct, isolated but closely grouped rocky blocks of calcareous nature that simulate the three peaks of Lavaredo—the pride of the Austrian dentist and botanist Arthur Hruska.