Pinaceae Members of the
pine family have cones that are imbricate (that is, with scales overlapping each other like fish scales). These cones, especially the woody female cones, are considered the "archetypal" tree cones. The female cone has two types of scale:
bract scale and seed scale (or ovuliferous scale), one
subtended by each bract scale, derived from a highly modified
branchlet. On the upper-side base of each seed scale are two ovules that develop into seeds after fertilization by pollen grains. The bract scales develop first and are conspicuous at the time of pollination; the seed scales develop later to enclose and protect the seeds, with the bract scales often not growing further. The scales open temporarily to receive pollen, then close during fertilization and maturation, and re-open at maturity to allow the seed to escape. Maturation takes 6–8 months from pollination in most Pinaceae genera, but 12 months in cedars and 18–24 months (rarely more) in most pines. The cones open either by the seed scales flexing back when they dry out, or (in firs, cedars and
golden larch) by the cones disintegrating with the seed scales falling off. The cones are conic,
cylindrical or
ovoid (egg-shaped), and small to very large, from 2–60 cm long and 1–20 cm broad. After ripening, the opening of non-
serotinous pine cones is associated with their moisture content—cones are open when dry and closed when wet. This assures that the small, windborne seeds will be dispersed during relatively dry weather, and thus the distance traveled from the parent tree will be enhanced. A pine cone goes through many cycles of opening and closing during its life span. File:Pinus sylvestris female strobilus and cone en.svg|Anatomy of a
Scots pine (
Pinus sylvestris) female strobilus. File:Picea Pungens Young Cones.jpg|Young cones of a
blue spruce (
Picea pungens) File:Young Pine Cone Center.jpg|Cross-section of a young female cone File:Young spruce cone (2489694695).jpg|Young female cone on a
Norway spruce (
Picea abies) File:Pinus cembra - male cones RHu 2023 02.JPG|Immature male cones of
Swiss pine (
Pinus cembra)
Araucariaceae '' cones and nuts Members of the
Araucariaceae (
Araucaria,
Agathis,
Wollemia) have the bract and seed scales fully fused and have only one ovule on each scale. The cones are spherical or nearly so, 5–30 cm diameter, and mature in 18 months. For most species they disintegrate at maturity to release the seeds, although in some such as
Araucaria bidwillii, the cone weighing up to is shed intact. In
Agathis, the seeds are winged and separate readily from the seed scale, but in the other two genera, the seed is wingless and fused to the scale.
Podocarpaceae The cones of the
Podocarpaceae are similar in function, though not in development, to those of the Taxaceae (q.v. below), being berry-like with the scales highly modified, evolved to attract birds into dispersing the seeds. In most of the genera, two to ten or more scales are fused together into a usually swollen, brightly coloured, soft, edible fleshy
aril. Usually, only one or two scales at the apex of the cone are fertile, each bearing a single wingless seed, but in
Saxegothaea several scales may be fertile. The fleshy scale complex is 0.5–3 cm long, and the seeds 4–10 mm long. In some genera (e.g.
Prumnopitys), the scales are minute and not fleshy, but the seed coat develops a fleshy layer instead, the cone having the appearance of one to three small
plums on a central stem. The seeds have a hard coat evolved to resist digestion in the bird's stomach.
Cupressaceae Members of the
cypress family (
cypresses,
arborvitae,
junipers,
redwoods, etc.) differ in that the bract and seed scales are fully fused, with the bract visible as no more than a small lump or spine on the scale. The botanical term
galbulus (plural galbuli; from the
Latin for a cypress cone) is sometimes used instead of strobilus for members of this family. The female cones have one to 20 ovules on each scale. They often have peltate scales, as opposed to the imbricate cones described above, though some have imbricate scales. The cones are usually small, long, and often spherical or nearly so, like those of
Nootka cypress, while others, such as
western redcedar and
California incense-cedar, are narrow. The scales are arranged either spirally, or in decussate whorls of two (opposite pairs) or three, rarely four. The genera with spiral scale arrangement were often treated in a separate family (Taxodiaceae) in the past. In most of the genera, the cones are woody and the seeds have two narrow wings (one along each side of the seed), but in three genera (
Platycladus, Microbiota and
Juniperus), the seeds are wingless, and in
Juniperus, the cones are fleshy and
berry-like (known as ). File:Sequoiadendron giganteum MHNT.BOT.2004.0.191.jpg|
Giant sequoia cones File:Cupressus nootkatensis 43603.jpg|Spherical cone of Nootka cypress (
Cupressus nootkatensis) File:Calocedrus decurrens MHNT.BOT.2004.0.810.jpg|Long slender cones and winged seeds of California incense-cedar (
Calocedrus decurrens) File:Platycladus orientalis MHNT.BOT.2007.52.7.jpg|Cones and wingless seeds of
Chinese arborvitae (
Platycladus orientalis) File:Juniperus_communis_cones.jpg|Berry-like cones of
common juniper (
Juniperus communis)
Sciadopityaceae The cones and seeds of
Sciadopitys (the only member of the family) are similar to those of some Cupressaceae, but larger, 6–11 cm long; the scales are imbricate and spirally arranged, and have 5–9 ovules on each scale.
Taxaceae and Cephalotaxaceae cone, an
aril Members of the
yew family and the closely related
Cephalotaxaceae have the most highly modified cones of any conifer. There is only one scale in the female cone, with a single poisonous ovule. The scale develops into a soft, brightly coloured sweet, juicy, berry-like aril which partly encloses the deadly seed. The seed alone is poisonous. The whole 'berry' with the seed is eaten by birds, which digest the sugar-rich scale and pass the hard seed undamaged in their droppings, so dispersing the seed far from the parent plant.
Welwitschiaceae Welwitschia is unique cone-bearing plant is not considered a conifer but belongs in the order
Welwitschiales.
Welwitschia mirabilis is often called a
living fossil and is the only species in its genus, which is the only genus in its family, which is the only family in its order. The male cones are on male plants, and female cones on female plants. After emergence of the two
cotyledons, it sets only two more leaves. Those two leaves then continue to grow longer from their base. This allows it great drought tolerance, which is likely why it has survived in the desert of
Namibia, while all other representatives from its order are extinct. File:Cedar of Lebanon cone.JPG|Female cone of a
Lebanese cedar File:Pine_cones,_immature_female.jpg|Immature female pine cone File:Japanese Larch pollen cone, Cardiff, Wales.jpg|Pollen cone of a
Japanese larch File:Pineapple gall.JPG|
Pineapple gall on
Sitka spruce caused by
Adelges abietis File:pine_cones,_male_and_female.jpg|Dozens of male cones (orange and flower-like) occur in a cluster; the female cone is still immature (olive green).
Lodgepole pine. File:loblolly_pine_strobili.jpg|Young female cones of
loblolly pine receptive for pollination File:Loblolly male flowers.jpg|
Loblolly pine male cones ready to cast pollen File:shortleaf_cone.jpg|Cross section of maturing
shortleaf pine cone showing seeds (arrows) File:ages_of_pine_cones.jpg|
Loblolly pine branch with cones of different ages; two-year old cones will disperse seeds during fall and winter File:Pinus canariensis (male) in Presa de las Niñas 02.jpg|
Pinus canariensis male cone in
Gran Canaria File:Abies bracteata 01 Cone Peak.jpg|The cone structure of
Abies bracteata File:Top of a pine cone.jpg|Top of a pine cone File:Male cone of Cedar of Lebanon.JPG|Male cone of cedar of Lebanon File:Male pollen cones of Pinus Canariensis looking like a pineapple.jpg|Male pollen cones of
Pinus canariensis grouped in clusters reminiscent of the appearance of a
pineapple, hence the name of the tropical pineapple fruit == Location and distribution ==