AbstractSome morphological traits of the crown (length and dry weight of needles, length of shoots) and chemical composition of the needles (content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium) of a tree remaining in the middle of a Fomes annosus‐rot gap in a 55‐year‐old pine stand, were compared to the same traits from trees at the edges of the gap. The central tree (C) was intermediate in morphological traits. The lowest concentrations of N, P, and K were found in needles of the central (C) tree and, respectively, the highest ones in needles of the tree classified as weakened (I) and standing at the edge of the gap.