Male Pine Cone: The 136th Flower of Spring & Summer! (1 more pic below!)

WHAT?! Ok, ok, I'm cheating and I don't care! I think male pine cones look as pretty as flowers and since they release pollen, I'm including this as one of the Flowers of Spring & Summer! :) So there! :D

The first thing to know is that pine cones don't have flowers! Instead, these trees have male cones that release pollen and female cones that receive the pollen and produce seeds. Male cones look very different and grow on the lower branches, whereas female cones grow on the upper branches. They are the cones we all recognize. They receive the pollen released by the male cones and produce seeds. Isn't that fascinating?! I always wondered what these things were!

If you would like to know more about pine cones, Wiki has a very nice page here: Wiki: Conifer Cone