To start with, the basics: conifers are gymnosperms, meaning they don’t have flowers. More specifically, their seeds are not encased within a fruit produced from an ovary. But they do have male and female structures, and they do reproduce through pollination. Above you can see the immature female or seed cone, called the megastrobilus. Below, you see the male cone, also called the pollen cone or the microstrobilus.
The pollinated seed cone will eventually become the “pine cone” we know so well. While not flowers, conifers do have surprisingly colorful spring forms.
Conifers are typically thought of as being uniform throughout the year, but this is not quite true. They do have buds for instance:
On pines, these are called candles. I think it’s an apt image.
Spring is a good time to check out your local conifers, they might be up to something interesting!
