A
cone (in formal
botanical usage
strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on
plants in the division
Pinophyta (
conifers) that contains the
reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces
seeds. The male cones, which produce
pollen, are usually
herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity. The name "cone" derives from the fact that the shape in some species resembles a
geometric cone. The individual plates of a cone are known as scales.
The male cone (microstrobilus or pollen cone) is structurally similar across all conifers, differing only in small ways (mostly in scale arrangement) from species to species. Extending out from a central axis are microsporophylls (modified leaves). Under each microsporophyll is one or several microsporangia (pollen sacs). The photo (right) shows mature male pine cones shortly after pollen release.
The female cone (megastrobilus, seed cone, or ovulate cone) contains ovules within which, when fertilized by pollen, become seeds. The female cone structure varies more markedly between the different conifer families, and is often crucial for the identification of many species of conifers, in as much as seeing the foliage alone may be insufficient to differentiate between closely related species.
The members of the pine family (pines, spruces, firs, cedars, larches, etc.) have cones that are imbricate with scales overlapping each other like fish scales. These are the "archetypal" cones. The scales are spirally arranged in fibonacci number ratios.
