Here's a few more pictures of pine cones.
These are the pollen (male) cones of Vanderwolf pine. This was taken in springtime. New needles are just beginning to grow at the tip of the twig.
I took the next 3 pictures today (Nov 20). This first picture shows a central bud (which will be the new pine shoot in spring) and surrounding it are pollen cones (male cones) that have a reddish, papery covering to protect them until spring. This is a ponderosa pine.
Here is another branch on the ponderosa pine showing a bud (upper left) and an immature female cone (lower right). These little cones on ponderosa have sharp prickles-- some folks call them "baby porcupines."
Here is a closer shot of the ponderosa pine cones--one is split open. You can see the sharp prickles, too.
And this is an immature female cone (lower structure) on a Scotch pine (along with three buds). On Scotch the female cones curl down (or backwards) along the twig. These are much smaller than the ponderosa pine cones.
