The Pine Cone Page
Pine cones can be just as amazing as flowers! Here are a few favorites:Fir Cone. Herman Creek, Columbia River Gorge, OR. 6/2009.
Immature Doug Fir Cone. Strawberry Mountains, OR. 8/2008.
Doug Fir is the Oregon state tree. West of the Cascades 8 of 10 conifers in Oregon are Doug Fir.
Larch Cone. Banff N.P., Alberta, Canada, 7/2011.
The two Larch species in our region, the high elevation Lyall’s and the lower elevation Western, put on quite a show. Larch are the only conifer to lose its needles — after turning spectacularly bright yellow in the fall. Only to be followed with tufts of bright green new needles in the spring. The young cones make a striking purple-reddish contrast to the needles.
The ponderosa pine is Oregon’s most common tree east of the Cascades.
A quick primer on tree reproduction…the familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The inconspicuous male cones, produce pollen.
Love the cone page!
December 19, 2014 at 8:01 pm