I once saw wild Austrian Black Pines while on a train traveling through Austria in the 1980's. This species is commonly planted in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England of the US in landscapes. Austrian Pine has dark green, stout, very stiff and prickly needles in bundles of 2 that get about 6 inches long. The conical cones are 2 to 4 inches long and have sharp prickles on the scales. Like many pines, it grows about 1.5 feet/year. The mature bark is plated with brown and tan areas. This species is very adaptable to many landscape conditions, including heavy clay, compacted, alkaline soils and to pollution, road salt, heat & drought. On the other hand, I've seen a number die from a needle blight fungus called Diploidia (Scleropsis) Tip Blight. Some may also be dying from an American pine bark beetle transmitting an American species of Pinewood Nematode. That nematode was killing lots of Scots Pines in the Chicago area in the 1980's and 1990's. It is a handsome pine, but I prefer the similar-looking Red Pine in nicer landscape conditions with acid soils because the latter is soft to touch and handle and has a even prettier bark; plus, it is a native species that I tend to favor over Eurasian. There are 5 varieties of the Black Pine: the Austrian, the Crimean, the Corsican, the Dalmatian, and the Salzmann. I've never seen the later four.

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