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This tree features blue-green needles bundled in pairs that vary in length. Their color frequently changes to a yellow-green color in winter. Scots pines produce oval, brown cones and sometimes have crooked trunks with distinctive reddish-orange bark. The tree is often used to break wind and has needles that hold well.

The Scots pine is known for having the broadest range of any one pine species in the world because of its high tolerance to a wide range of soil and climate conditions. The tree was widely planted on old farm fields. These early farmers were familiar with this species and knew it could tolerate poor and dry soil. Eventually they found that the trees often had twisted or stagnated trunks and did not mature into the fine timber stands they had imagined. Around this time, people began to realize that seed sources vary widely and must be matched to the planting site. Today, seed sources are selected with care and varieties of Scots pine are favored to provide the species’ best qualities, especially when planting for the Christmas tree market.