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A mature female big-cone pine (Pinus coulteri) cone, the heaviest pine cone A young female or seed cone on a Norway spruce (Picea abies) Immature male or pollen 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.
Cones of all species have thick scales, and all except those of P. pinea open at maturity. Species in this section are native to Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean, except for P. resinosa in northeastern North America and P. tropicalis in western Cuba. [6] Subsection Incertae sedis
Needles and cones. The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The needles of the tree surround the branch to an extent of about one foot near the tip of the limb. [13] The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface.
The female cones take 1.5–3 years (depending on species) to mature after pollination, with actual fertilization delayed one year. At maturity the female cones are 3–60 cm long. Each cone has numerous spirally arranged scales, with two seeds on each fertile scale; the scales at the base and tip of the cone are small and sterile, without seeds.
The cones take from four months to three years to reach maturity, and vary in size from 2 to 600 millimetres (1 ⁄ 8 to 23 + 5 ⁄ 8 in) long. In Pinaceae, Araucariaceae, Sciadopityaceae and most Cupressaceae, the cones are woody, and when mature the scales usually spread open allowing the seeds to fall out and be dispersed by the wind.
The cones are 6–12 cm (2 + 1 ⁄ 4 – 4 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) long and 4–4.5 cm (1 + 5 ⁄ 8 – 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) broad, green or purple ripening pale brown, with about 100–150 scales; the scale bracts are short, and hidden in the closed cone. The winged seeds are released when the cones disintegrate at maturity about 6 months after pollination. [9]
The seed cones are green, 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) long and 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) in diameter, and mature about 18–20 months after wind pollination. They disintegrate at maturity to release the seeds which are small and brown, thin and papery with a wing around the edge to aid wind-dispersal. [ 3 ]
The trees' pollen cones appear in April and mature in September or October. [17] The cones require fifteen months to mature, [18] and the cones fall 17 to 18 months after pollination in late January to early March from the coast to the current Bunya Mountains. When there is heavy rainfall or drought, pollination may vary. [19]