Schwarzkiefer

Black Pine (pitch pine), an Austrian subspecies (austriaca) of Pinus nigra, whose scattered distribution area stretches from Anatolia and Cyprus via the Balkan Peninsula, southern Italy and Corsica to the Pyrenees. Apart from a minor occurrence in the Karawanken Mountain Range the main distribution area of the black pine in Austria comprises the dry limestone and dolomite sites of the eastern and southeastern edge of the Alps, in particular along the thermal line and in the Vienna Basin. The black pine stands cover an area of more than 30,000 ha, large parts of which were created artificially for the purpose of resin extraction. The black pines planted in the Steinfeld Plain in the 18^th century remain a dominant feature of the landscape.