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What is a pine cone? |
by Kate Simmons >> more about the author
They’re prickly, they grow on trees, and they do the important job of helping to make new trees. They’re pine cones, and there’s more to them than meets the eye!
Believe it or not, there are two types of pine cones. The female (girl) cones are the woody, pointy, scaly kind that you probably first imagine when you think of cones. They hold the beginnings of pine tree seeds.
The male (boy) pine cones are smaller and look more like plants than cones! Male pine cones hold pollen sacs, and it just so happens that pollen is what the female pine cones need to get their seeds ready for scattering!
So how does the pollen from the male cones make it to the female cones? It’s carried by the wind! The pollen eventually fertilizes the seed beginnings in the female pine cones so they are ready to be scattered and new pine trees can sprout!
Pine trees aren’t the only trees with cones. Examples of other conifers (cone-bearing trees) are spruces, redwoods and firs.
Believe it or not, there are two types of pine cones. The female (girl) cones are the woody, pointy, scaly kind that you probably first imagine when you think of cones. They hold the beginnings of pine tree seeds.
The male (boy) pine cones are smaller and look more like plants than cones! Male pine cones hold pollen sacs, and it just so happens that pollen is what the female pine cones need to get their seeds ready for scattering!
So how does the pollen from the male cones make it to the female cones? It’s carried by the wind! The pollen eventually fertilizes the seed beginnings in the female pine cones so they are ready to be scattered and new pine trees can sprout!
Pine trees aren’t the only trees with cones. Examples of other conifers (cone-bearing trees) are spruces, redwoods and firs.
