Pinus mugo subsp.mugo — in the east and south of the range (southern & easternAlps,Balkan Peninsula), a low, shrubby, often multi-stemmed plant to 3–6 metres (10–20 feet) tall with matt-textured symmetricalcones, which are thin-scaled.
Pinus mugo subsp.uncinata — in the west and north of the range (from the Pyrenees northeast to Poland), a larger, usually single-stemmed tree to 20 m (66 ft) tall with glossy-textured asymmetrical cones, the scales of which are much thicker on the upper side.
Somebotanists treat the western subspecies as a separate species,Pinus uncinata, others as only a variety,P. mugo var.rostrata. This subspecies in the Pyrenees marks the alpinetree line or timberline, the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing.
Pinus mugo subsp.rotundata — hybrid subspecies, of the two subspecies above that intergrade extensively in the western Alps and northern Carpathians.
An old name for the species,Pinus montana, is still occasionally seen, and a typographical error "mugho" (first made in a prominent 18th-century encyclopedia) is still often repeated.[citation needed]
Pinus mugo is native to the subalpine zones of thePyrenees, Alps,Ore Mountains,Carpathians, northern and centralApennines, and higherBalkan Peninsula mountains – Rila,Pirin,Korab,Accursed Mountains, etc. It is usually found from 1,000–2,200 m (3,281–7,218 ft), occasionally as low as 200 m (656 ft) in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high as 2,700 m (8,858 ft) in the south of the range in Bulgaria and the Pyrenees. Also in Kosovo it is found inBjeshkët e Nemuna National Park.[citation needed]
In Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic region,P. mugo was introduced in the late 1700s and the 1800s, when it was planted in coastal regions forsand dune stabilization, and later as ornamental plants around residences. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the species has naturalised and becomeinvasive, displacing fragile dune and dune heath habitats. In Estonia and LithuaniaP. mugo only occasionally naturalises outside plantations, sometimes establishing in raised bogs.[9]
Pinus mugo is classed as awilding conifer, and spreads as an invasive species in the high country of New Zealand,[citation needed] coastal Denmark, and other areas ofScandinavia.
Pinus mugo is widely cultivated as anornamental plant, for use as a small tree or shrub, planted in gardens and in larger pots and planters. It is also used inJapanese garden style landscapes, and for largerbonsai specimens. In Kosovo, its trunk is used as construction material for the vernacular architecture in the mountains called "Bosonica".[citation needed]
The mugo pine is used in cooking. The cones can be made into a syrup called "pinecone syrup",[15] "pine cone syrup",[16] or mugolio.Buds and young cones are harvested from the wild in the spring and left to dry in the sun over the summer and into autumn. The cones and buds gradually drip syrup, which is then boiled down to a concentrate and combined with sugar.[17][18]Alternatively, the pinecones can bemacerated in sugar,fermented, and strained.[19]
