Male Cones

Months ago I took this photo of what looked like a flower on a large pine tree. Gorgeous colors--I was perplexed about what it was. Looked it up online:

Gymnosperms are seed-bearing vascular plants, such as cycads, ginkgo, yews and conifers, in which the ovules or seeds are not enclosed in an ovary. The word "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek word gymnospermos, meaning "naked seeds". Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scale or leaf-like appendages of cones, or at the end of short stalks. The largest group of living gymnosperms are the conifers.

So after much research, I found that it's a cluster of male strobili (cones) of pine at the tip of a branch in early spring prior to the release of pollen.

8x8 on 1/8" museum quality panel

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