The stone pine, botanical name Pinus pinea, also known as the Italian stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine, is a tree from the pine family. The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe and the Levant. They signify Rome for me although they grow all over the area. I called them “broccoli trees” for years until my Roman friends could no longer stand it and made me call them by their real name: pino. Their cones take 36 months to mature, longer than any other pine. The edible seeds (pine nuts) have a rudimentary wing that falls off very easily. The wing is ineffective for wind dispersal, and the seeds are animal-dispersed, originally mainly by the Iberian magpie but in recent history largely by humans.