The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaking bark. The branches are produced in regular pseudo whorls, actually a very tight spiral but appearing like a ring of branches arising from the same point. Many pines are uninodal, producing just one such whorl of branches each year, from buds at the tip of the year's new shoot, but others are multinodal, producing two or more whorls of branches per year. The spiral growth of branches, needles, and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios.[citation needed] The new spring shoots are sometimes called candles; they are covered in brown or whitish bud scales and point upward at first, then later turn green and spread outward. These candles offer foresters a means to evaluate fertility of the soil and vigour of the trees.
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