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Stone pine tree
Pin pignon - شجرة الصنوبر
Description
Recognizable by its large, umbrella-shaped canopy and its slender rugged trunk, the stone pine is immediately associated to the Mediterranean landscape. Present across the region, scientists have yet to discover its geographical origin.
Resistant to drought, the stone pine adapts to poor, sandy soils, making it an excellent choice for Mediterranean gardens. Its cones contain the highly prized pine nuts popular in cooking. In addition to its culinary value, it plays an important role in soil stabilization and ecosystem preservation.
The Beirut Pine Forest, located a stone’s throw from the Foundation, was expanded during the Ottoman era to halt the invasion of sands brought by sea currents, as a result of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Poem
The Pine
The great pine glimmers,
On the hill,
Like a lighthouse
In midsummer.
Its resin oozes
With pride and incense,
While its perfume travels
With the warm breeze.
The friendly cicadas
It willingly shelters,
Sing along
With joy.
The children who babble
Under its branches,
Feel protected
By its elegant parasol.
While it toils away
Fighting off the drought,
It offers families
Shade and serenity,
Thinning out its twigs,
It likes to throw
At their feet the fragments
Of a sparkling carpet.
Without a peep,
It lets them take –
To their great pleasure-
The fruits it scatters.
With time
This beauty maker
Embroiders a sample of lace
Pierced by the velvety blue skies.
Directing the dance
Of the overly agitated wind,
It tames a squadron
Of irritated clouds.
Each twig
With skill,
Sews up the rags
Of the tattered weather.
In the boundless sky,
The great green pine
With the help of its fine needles
Weaves eternity.
March 1940
Published in La Montagne Parfumée, Éditions de la Revue Phénicienne, 2004
