Columnar Swiss Stone Pine              PI-nus sem-BRA

• Conifer, evergreen tree, 30-40 ft (9-12 m), narrow, densely columnar, pyramidal, slow growing.  In first year, stem covered with dense, orange colored pubescence.  Five needles per bundle, stiff, straight, 5-8 cm long, only 1 mm wide, inside of needles have bluish-white stomatic lines, leaf sheath (2 mm) falls the first year, needles persist for 4-5 years.  Cones terminal, short-stalked, erect-ovoid, apex blunt, 5-8 cm long, purplish brown when mature.
• Sun. Does best in well-drained, loamy, slightly acid soil.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4    The name 'Columnaris' has been used since 1897 for several different clones.  It apparently grows better than the similar 'Stricta' ( van Geldren and van Hoey Smith, 1996).
• Oregon State Univ. campus: west side Ocean Administration Building (near 26th and Monroe).