Contributed
Seven Lakes Garden Club members and guests were introduced to the “Secret Life of Pinecones” at their February meeting.
Lynn Hancock of the Linden Garden Club shared her fascination and enthusiasm for this much maligned constant resident of our yards and gardens.
Pinecones have persisted in the ecosystem for millenia. Dinosaurs dined on them. Early Celts and Romans placed the pinecones, symbols of fertility under their pillows if they wanted to conceive.
There are many fun facts to know about pinecones. The cone itself is female, bearing the seeds of future trees.The male is that yellow clump that appears here each spring and covers everything with its sticky dust.
Locally, the stately Longleaf grows tall with its long smooth needles and the Loblolly produces much shorter and sharper needles.
The job of the pinecone is to protect its seeds from the elements. The cone opens and closes as needed depending on the weather and predators. The cones can stay on the tree for up to 10 years while the seeds grow.
The seeds are released when conditions are optimal for the seeds to grow. The pollen released from the yellow male cones is dispersed by the wind to pollinate the mature woody female cones.
Pinecones all have a similar shape, and they range in size. The Colter Pinecones in Mexico and California are the largest, weighing in at up to eleven pounds. The longest comes from the Sugar Pine in the Northeast. The smallest cone, just one inch, is produced by the Eastern Hemlock.
Twenty varieties of pinecone seeds/nuts are edible. Pinyon pines are the most popular. Pine Nuts are rich in magnesium, iron, antioxidants, zinc, and protein.
If you fret every week when you pick your quota of pinecones from your property, take a minute to think of the wondrous life of the pinecone. Try to ignore the soon to be upon us “yellow cloud” season and think of the process that cone endures to fulfill its mission of continuation of its species for another few million years.
