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A mature female big-cone pine (Pinus coulteri) cone, the heaviest pine cone A young female cone on a Norway spruce (Picea abies) Immature male cones of Swiss pine (Pinus cembra) A conifer cone, or in formal botanical usage a strobilus, pl.: strobili, is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants, especially in conifers and cycads.
Male cones are elongated, and three or four may appear at a time. Female cones are borne singly, or up to three at a time, and may weigh up to 60 pounds (27 kg). In some species, male cones with ripe pollen emit a nauseating odour. When the pollen has been shed and the males cones decay, a strong odour of acetic acid has also been noted. [7]
Female cones are ovoid, 30–35 cm long, and 15–18 cm in diameter. Each plant produces only one cone at a time, which changes color from bluish green to yellow as it matures. The seeds are oblong, measuring 25–30 mm long, and are covered with an orange or yellow sarcotesta .
The female cone then opens, releasing the seeds which grow to a young seedling. To fertilize the ovum, the male cone releases pollen that is carried in the wind to the female cone. This is pollination. (Male and female cones usually occur on the same plant.) The pollen fertilizes the female gamete (located in the female cone).
The female cones are large and usually woody, 2–60 centimetres (1–24 inches) long, with numerous spirally arranged scales, and two winged seeds on each scale. The male cones are small, 0.5–6 cm (1 ⁄ 4 – 2 + 1 ⁄ 4 in) long, and fall soon after pollination; pollen dispersal is by wind. Seed dispersal is mostly by wind, but some ...
The trees are mostly dioecious, with male and female cones found on separate trees, [4] though occasional individuals are monoecious or change sex with time. [5] The female cones, usually high on the top of the tree, are globose , and vary in size among species from 7 to 25 centimetres (3 to 10 in) in diameter.
Juniper berries are actually modified conifer cones.. A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers.It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales called a galbulus, which gives it a berry-like appearance.
Like other cycads, Z. pumila is dioecious, having male or female plants. The male cones are cylindrical, growing to 3–15 cm long; they are often clustered. The female cones are elongate-ovoid and grow to 6–15 cm long and 4–6 cm in diameter. Pollination is done by certain insects, namely the cycad weevil Rhopalotria slossoni.