Pinus mugo

Pinus mugo, known as creeping pine, dwarf mountainpine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe. Pinus mugo is native to the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern and central Apennines, and higher Balkan Peninsula mountains. It is usually found from 1,000–2,200 m (3,281–7,218 ft), occasionally as low as 200 m (656 ft) in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high as 2,700 m (8,858 ft) in the south of the range in Bulgaria and the Pyrenees. Also in the Republic of Kosova it is found in the Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park, in the region of the municipality of Peja and Istog. Pinus mugo was planted in coastal Denmark for sand dune stabilization. It has naturalized and become invasive. There are three subspecies: Both subspecies have similar foliage, with dark green leaves ('needles') in pairs, 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 in) long. The cones are nut-brown, 2.5–5.5 cm (0.98–2.17 in) long: and in subsp. mugo are symmetrical, thin-scaled and matt textured; and in subsp. uncinata are asymmetrical with thick scales on the upper side of the cone, thin on the lower side, and glossy textured. An old name for the species Pinus montana is still occasionally seen, and a typographical error 'mugho' (first made in a prominent 18th century encyclopedia) is still repeated surprisingly often. Pinus mugo is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use as a small tree or shrub, planted in gardens and in larger pots and planters. It is also used in Japanese garden style landscapes, and for larger bonsai specimens. In Kosova its trunk is used as construction material for the vernacular architecture in the mountains called 'Bosonica'.