I have always been fascinated by “Pine cones.” Primarily because they remind me of Christmas which I love!
In Hawaii, there is one predominant conifer (cone bearing) tree — the Norfolk Island Pine (Cook Pine). As it so often happens after starting this blog, I had not ever noticed the Cook Pine when it was producing cones! So in May, I took these photos of the Cook Pine bearing “pine cones.”
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| Cook Pine cones / Keaīwa Heiau State Park, Aiea, HI / May 2016 |
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| Cook Pine / Keaīwa Heiau State Park, Aiea, HI/ May 2016 |
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| Small off-color pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
As the flower and fruit, for flowering plants (angiosperms), are the reproductive structure, the “pine cone” (in its many forms) is the reproductive structure for the
gymnosperm (conifers, cycads, etc.) tree .
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| Small off-color pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Various types of cones on one tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
Also as in flowering plants (angiosperms), there could be a male and female tree / plant each with only male or female seed-producing organs (“cones”) or both male and female “cones” on the same tree. Dioecious v. monoecious
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| Pine cone "proper" / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
When the male and female “cones” are on the same tree, the sperm producing “cone” is found higher on the trees so the sperm will naturally fall onto the female “cones” on the branches below to fertilize it and result in the seed-bearing cone. The seed-bearing cone is the harder traditional “pine cone” that most people view, and use, ornamentally.
The “pine cone” is in fact why the plants are called gymnosperms. Gymnosperm means “naked seed.” This refers to the seeds which are produced on scaly and woody structures with the seeds ready to just fall out of the structure with no fleshy life-giving outer coating (fruit) to protect them.
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| Pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine cones, one type / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine cones, a different type (same tree) / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
All gymnosperms are not “pine” trees. Pinus is a genus for gymnosperms. When I took my environmental horticulture class in college, a pine tree was another plant for which we only had to memorize Pinus sp.
This implied to me, like Casuarina sp. [March 31, 2016 - What is a winter beach?] that there were MANY of the species within the genus and that for our beginning class purposes, it was too difficult to distinguish among the species. And for that reason for this blog, I didn't try to identify the different Pines / gymnosperms!
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| Pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine cones, two types / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Prolific pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
The main inspiration, and the content, for this blog occurred because when visiting Northern Washington state this year, I was amazed at how many “Pine” trees were bearing their “pine cones.” There was a large variety and the trees were so full of the seed-bearing structures!
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| Pine cones close up / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
Here are some unique looking cones. I am not sure whether they are female or male. I like their pale blue color. The one type is very tiny and the other quite large.
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| Pine cones / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine cones / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
In the large blueish-coned tree, the needles are even blue-gray in color!
It was also interesting to me that the trees had their “cones” in August. It seems a strange time to bear “fruit” and it was so much later than Hawai’i. [The latter can be explained as hotter regions (even within a species) will cause fruiting sooner.] But I wonder why there were all bearing cones in August? I really don’t have a theory on that; perhaps you could think of one. To add in a possible factor, conifers are traditionally snow-hardy plants.
Even non-pine gymnosperm trees in Washington had “cones.” The “cones” for Junipers are the male “cones.” Juniper “cones” Normally, Junipers have berries; which are not really a berry!
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| Juniper (possibly) tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Juniper (possibly) cones / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine tree / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine cones / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
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| Pine cones / Anacortes, WA / August 2016 |
I don’t know if the Pine trees and cones (pictured here in three photos - all from the same tree) are the same type of tree as shown earlier.
They look very similar but the arrangement of the pine needles look different and the cones are a little different too.
Notice the different stages (or types) of cones all seem to be present in the same location on the tree.
So if you are on the continental United States, “watch out for nature” to see if any gymnosperm trees have their cones and see if you notice different types of cones! In Hawai’i, “watch out for nature” to see what the final seed-bearing cone for the Norfolk Island Pine looks like. I have not looked for that yet!
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