Conifer cone

The term pin ( strobilus ) is not uniformly used in botany. The English-language online encyclopedia memidex example lists a number of different definitions that are not congruent. Usually, however, is referred to as pin the male and female reproductive organs of conifers. They are homologous to the inflorescences of angiosperms.

Journal of softwoods ( conifers)

Typical conifer cones

If one defines woody cones than female spike-like inflorescences, whose axis and bracts at maturity, so this covers only the female cones and all its stages of development up to the woody cones with the mature seeds, regardless of whether they have the characteristic shape of pine and spruce cones or some are like the cypress trees and cypresses. Always units made ​​up of one Deckschuppe and a seed scale with ovules are arranged helically around an axis, wherein cover and seed scale can be grown in varying degrees and the Deckschuppe can be greatly reduced to maturity. The bracts are derived from bracts from which seed scales are converted short shoots and match flowers. The female cones is thus an inflorescence. The integuments of the ovules develop in most families to a hard seed coat.

Although male flowers are built easier, never become woody and fall off after flowering, they are usually also referred to as a pin. Male cones are made of spirally arranged around the axis, flaky Mikrosporophyllen who dismiss the pollen when ripe.

The pegs sit in different ways to the different branches of conifer species. In the fir the female cones stand upright in the spruce they hang in the black pine they are horizontally from the branches off. Some female cones, such as fir, fall apart at the time of seed maturity, so that you will not find all over the pine cones on the ground. For other conifers the female cones fall from the tree as a whole, as in the spruce and pine. Previously, these cones open their scales on the tree to release the winged seeds. In many coniferous plants, the bracts open this in dry weather and close again at higher humidity.

Juniper ( Juniperus )

In some conifers, the cones are highly modified, for example the " berries " of juniper, where you can still see the scales in an immature state, when ripe, but not anymore. The three upper scale leaves are fleshy when ripe and form the juniper berry.

Yew and walnut yew (Taxus and Cephalotaxus )

In the yew yew and walnut from the pin, only a few small scales and one to two ovules or seeds are a left and the seed is covered by a fleshy aril. But because the female structures most likely go back to a pin structure with deck and shed seeds also these structures often called cones. The male flowers have the same basic blueprint as the other conifers, although the stamens have special features.

Female cones of Douglas fir with dreizipfligen Deckschuppen

Male cones of black pine (Pinus nigra)

Female cones of juniper

Female cones of a yew

Journal of cycads ( Cycadopsida )

The male and female flowers and seed pods of cycads that are arranged spirally from about an axis more or less scale-like stamens ( Mikrosporophyllen ) or " carpels " ( Megasporophyllen ) are called cones exist. You can see typical conifer cones very similar and are sometimes huge and heavy. " A female cones of Makrozamia denisonii was 94 cm long and weighed 38 kg, one of Encephalartos caffer as 42 kg. "

" Pin " the alder ( Alnus )

Judging purely formally from the definition of cones in conventional field guides from, according to the journal are ears of corn, woody its axis and bracts at maturity, so also the fruit stands of alder, the male flowers of the conifers do not fall under this term. However, the alder angiosperms and their " cones " have with those of conifers except the shape and lignification nothing in common. Nevertheless, they are often referred to as a pin, but some authors speak of peg-like or cone- like fruit stands

The seed heads of hops ( Humulus lupulus)

After an even broader definition pins are fruit stands with overlapping scale-like bracts. In this case, one would also mean the hops fruit stands as a pin. In English and French. these are actually as a pin ( hop cone, cone ) referred to in German but as hops.

The Sporophyllstände the horsetails ( Equisetaceae ) and club mosses ( Lycopodium )

Finally, the term pin is used also for the peg- like arrangement of the sporophylls at the growing ends of the horsetails and club mosses, eg in English and in French. The Germans called this earlier blooms and now mostly correct Sporophyllstände.

Pin-shaped Sporophyllstand a horsetail

Symbols

Spruce, fir and pine cones were regarded as symbols of fertility because of their numerous seeds. With this meaning a pine cone crowns the thyrsus of the fertility god Dionysus. In particular, the Zirbelnuss, the female cones of the stone pine was. Among the Romans and later by the Christians as a symbol of immortality