How do you identify a conifer?
The surest way to identify conifers is to examine the needles and cones along with the bark. In general the bark of pine trees is smooth on young trees but develops a flaky, reddish-brown color with age. Scots pines have a particularly orange/red peeling bark. White pines can have smooth bark, even when mature. Fir needles are flat and fat (think FFF). Fir cones stand on top of the branch. Pine tree needles grow in clusters of 2, 3 or 5 needles depending on if they are red, yellow or white pines and, the needles can grow very long (Think of a Scotch Pine at Christmas).Conifers can be identified by the needles, cones and sometimes the color of the bark. Pine needles are in groups of 2, 3 or 5 and are longer than spruce and fir needles. Spruce needles are single needles emanating around the branch and have four sides.Mature pine and spruce cones are pendulant or hang downward from their point of attachment to the branch. Fir cones on the other hand remain upright or erect (figures 5-7). Cones consist of scales attached to a central stalk.All pines are conifers, but not all conifers are pines 🌲 It’s easy to refer to all conifers as pine trees, but we actually have 10 native species of conifers: red and white cedar, balsam fir, hemlock, white, jack and red pines, black and white spruce, and the beautiful tamarack which actually sheds its needles every .
How do conifer cones differ?
Male cones are a lot smaller than female cones and their scales aren’t as open. Each scale in a male cone contains the pollen that can spread to a female cone to make a seed. The way a conifer cone looks can help us figure out what type of tree it comes from. One contains seeds; the other doesn’t. Conifers produce two types of cones: seed cones (female cones) that contain seeds, and pollen cones (male cones) that produce pollen but do not contain seeds.All living conifers (except the gnetophytes) are woody plants, and most are trees with narrow leaves, often needle-like. There are separate male and female reproductive structures, the cones. Pollination is always by wind; the seeds are mostly winged. The trees have a regular branching pattern.There are two types of cones on most Pacific NW conifers: seed cones and pollen cones. These are female and male reproductive organs, respectively. Pollen (from the pollen cones / male cones) has to reach the ovules (in the seed cones / female cones) in order to fertilize them, creating seeds.Conifers are trees that bear their seeds in cones (hence the name conifer). The vast majority of conifers have needle-like (e.
What are the characteristics of a conifer cone?
They are usually woody and variously conic, cylindrical, ovoid, to globular, and have scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, but can be fleshy and berry-like. The cones of Pinophyta (conifer clade) contain the reproductive structures. The woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. While most conifers are also evergreens, these two terms are not synonyms: ‘conifers’ refers to the unique way of reproducing by cones, and ‘evergreens’ refers to the nature of the tree’s leaves.Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, order Pinales, made up of living and fossil gymnospermous plants that usually have needle-shaped evergreen leaves and seeds attached to the scales of a woody bracted cone.Conifers are the cone-bearing plants, and include pine, redwood, spruce, yew, cedar, and many other familiar trees. Conifers are also economically important, being some of the most common timber and paper-pulp trees.These are plants with seed-filled cones and needles or spiny foliage. Some of these evergreen tree types shed their needles in winter, but most don’t. You can find conifers in a wide range of sizes. Some have a pyramidal shape, like trimmed, traditional Christmas trees, while others are low-growing and have flat forms.
How to identify a pine cone?
Pine cone scales tend to be thicker and woodier than spruce cone scales which are more papery in texture. As a result, pine cones tend to be more rigid than spruce cones. Many species of pine have cone scales that are armed with spines or prickles. Drought seems to induce excessive seeding. But other explanations include the so-called Predator Satiation Hypothesis: Essentially, if the trees sense a lot of predators, they will overproduce seeds to improve the chances that some seeds can escape consumption.But more pine cones can also mean the trees are producing more reproductive seeds as a way to deal with the stress of a dry or changing climate. It’s a matter of survival: The tougher, drier the season, the stronger the urge for the trees to reproduce through seeds so the species can survive.
What are the two types of cones a conifer makes?
Most conifers produce two types of unisexual cones, pollen cones (male function) and seed cones (female function) on individual trees—the term for this is monoecy. The pinecones we see are only the female cones. The male cones are much smaller and not showy. You may have never noticed them. The male cones release pollen, which drifts into the air and eventually finds and fertilizes the female cones.
What is so special about pine cones?
In the wild, they provide sustenance for various creatures, including squirrels and birds, which feast on the seeds nestled within. Additionally, pine cones play a crucial role in reforestation, as their seeds sprout into new trees, ensuring the continuity of the forest ecosystem. If it was wet or humid, the pinecone’s scales would swell shut to protect the seeds. Watch as the seedling pops out of its seed, and begins to grow its needles upward from its center. Just over 100 days, new branches seem to form, and by day 300, the pine tree is a miniature version of its mature form.There has been information published on Facebook lately about planting a whole pinecone to grow a tree. This is very unlikely to succeed as the cone is the container for the seed, and provides protection. It does not allow sunlight to reach the seed.Pinecones are fruit, though few eat them. And pinecones can stay on a tree for ten or more years, depending on the species, before dropping to the ground. When they do, the fertilized seeds are mostly gone.There has been information published on Facebook lately about planting a whole pinecone to grow a tree. This is very unlikely to succeed as the cone is the container for the seed, and provides protection. It does not allow sunlight to reach the seed.