Scots pine

The Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is a conifer that shows a high ability to adapt to the environment: it lives from the valley floor up to 2000 meters above sea level, with very limited needs, managing to colonize the poorest soils and resist drought, intense sunshine and the highest temperature variations.

Scots pine usually grows on arid slopes facing south, where beech, larch and fir cannot tolerate extreme drought and heat conditions. In Val Susa and Val Chisone, in the hottest places it even replaces the Larch up to 2000 meters above sea level.

The most notable pine forest in the Park extends near the Consorzio Pracatinat, on a former military territory and near the towns of Puy and Pequerel.
The south-facing slope has been deforested in the past and has undergone a strong erosion process. the soil is young and calcareous, but despite the difficult environmental conditions the pine forest has reformed and is thriving.

In the undergrowth of the pine forest it is easy to find bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) together with juniper (Juniperus communis and Juniperus nana) and barberry (Berberis vulgaris) bushes.