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Each plant may be a few inches tall, and pine-cone-shaped or cylindrical. The plant above ground is almost entirely made up of its inflorescence, a tightly packed column of thick cup-shaped flowers. The groundcone produces haustoria which penetrate the roots of its host and provide it with water and nutrients.
Many Pinus species adapted to this fire-prone environment with serotinous pine cones. A set of conditions must be met in order for long-term seed storage to be evolutionarily viable for a plant: The plant must be phylogenetically able (pre-adapted) to develop the necessary reproductive structures; The seeds must remain viable until cued to release
The wood is moderately hard and heavy, weak, light brown colour. The seed cones vary in shape, being rectangular to oval, cone shaped, straight or curved inward. [15] The cones are 3–5 cm (1 + 1 ⁄ 4 –2 in) long, the scales with a small, fragile prickle that usually wears off before maturity, leaving the cones smooth.
Pinus lambertiana (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest cones of any conifer.It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coast of North America, as far north as Oregon and as far south as Baja California in Mexico.
Both the above accounts described a method of extracting the seeds from the green cones. Another method is to leave the cones on the trees until they are dry and brown, then beat the cones with a stick, knocking the cones loose or the seeds loose from the cones which then fall to the ground where they can be collected. [ 14 ]
In South Florida, the pine rocklands can convert to a rockland hammock dominated by woody shrubs and invasive plants. Invasive species are a major management issue in the South. Many pine trees and native plants are adapted to fire, meaning they require fire disturbance to open their pine cones, germinate seeds, and cue other metabolic processes.
The cones thus grow over a two-year (26-month) cycle, so that newer green and older, seed-bearing or open brown cones are on the tree at the same time. Open cone with empty pine nuts. The seed cones open to 6–9 cm (2 + 1 ⁄ 4 – 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) broad when mature, holding the seeds on the scales after opening.
The cones are borne on a short stem, and have two to four scales, usually only one (sometimes two) fertile, each fertile scale bearing a single apical seed 10–15 mm. When mature, the scales swell up and become reddish purple, fleshy, and berry -like, 10–20 mm long; they are then eaten by birds , which disperse the seeds in their droppings.