AusBonsai

These are the typical cones of the Pinus Nigra Austriaca - Pinus Nigra Maratima and Pinus Nigra Nigra , all have the same shape however the size varies between age of tree and sub species . All are Austrian Black Pines or European Black Pines
Hope this is of help to some in relation to Identifying the The Pinus Nigra's

Cheers Alpineart

you have got me intrigued now. I will have to head back to that tree and grab a few samples when I get a chance

Thank you very much Alpine, that is great info!!
I am sure they are all great, but hypothetically if you had to choose only one of them for bonsai, which would it be and why?
Silly question because in reality you obviously don't have to choose, but still I am curious?...are their growth characteristics similar? I know you have mentioned differences in their needles etc.
Just wondering if you had a favourite out of the three Austrian/European Black Pines?
Cheers, Dario.

Hi Dario , the Nigra's all reduce well in the needle department , foliage is sparse on the Maratima so i would be out on its own for Bonsai . My pick of the bunch would be Austriaca , i have collected it the most and is/was widely available around here .The Nigra is very rare as i have only discovered 3 mature tree's and about 2 dozen self sown wildlings .The Nigra forest i collected was included in those 2 dozen specimens found , all the other seedling / wildlings in the area are Austriaca's or Maratima's .

Cheers Alpine

Hi Alpine,

Just thought I would re visit this post of yours for some further thoughts.

I have been back to the tree I had the initial question about and grabed a few more photos. I will post them below for you to ponder and give your opinion on for there Id.

Look forward to hearing what you think

Cheers

Squizz

Hi Squizzy , that looks very much like a Pinus Nigra var' Nigra . I would estimate this tree at around 40-50 years old . The needle should be very stiff and sharp like a cactus to touch moreso than a JBP , it also has a 360 rotation along the needle however it grows straight compared to the Pinus Nigra "Austriaca" and "Maratima" .While the long plates are present the colour isn't , however with such a thick canopy on this variant species they tend to collect a lot of needle litter in the fishures keeping the bark darker . It would be worth collecting a few green/brown cones before they open and place them into a paper bag, as they open the seed will drop out .

Cheers Alpine