Pinus pinea

The Stone Pine of the Med'. Totally distinct and very ornamental medium sized pine, forming a unique umbrella-like crown in time. Make Pesto with its seeds if you can be bothered to extract them. Trunks are usually single, but can occasionally branch low and wide as per the famous old Kew specimen, now gone. Bark on mature trees is broad plates of orange-brown. Perfectly hardy throughout most if not all of the UK with very old specimens shrugging off the very coldest winters ever recorded. Sun and any reasonably well drained soil, though happy on clay in valley bottoms too.