Pinecones

For some reason, I really enjoy checking out all the different pine cones! At the same time, I am fascinated with all the different colors of the pine trees and the length of their needles. What an amazing world we live in.

Photos by Connie

The precise timing when a pine tree drops its cones varies by species and environmental conditions. Both male and female cones occur on a pine. The floppy male cones shed pollen and drop away in late spring, but female cones persist and mature.

Two to three years passes before a female pine cone matures, opens its scales, sheds its seeds and then falls to the ground, often from summer into fall.