A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 So where are the seeds in the pine cone

Hi all,

I'm doing a little hide and seek with some pine cones. Well let me explain.

Someone who doesn't know much about ponderosa pine has planted a row of them along side a road with a bus stop that I use frequently. Currently it is dropping pine cones. I've started collecting them with the hope of getting the seeds for Pati. But I don't know where the seeds hide inside the cone. Can anyone help me with that?

Tammy,
When you find the cones that are opened,
most of the time the seeds are already dropped out...
Ponderosa Pine

There's a picture of an open pine cone..
That's brown and dried..

Try to find a cone, that is somewhere's in between green and tightly closed and a brown one opened...
*does that make sense?*

And under each flap on the cone should be a small flat seed.

Tammy, the seed will be on the flat side of those "flaps" that weezie mentioned. (Actually, they're not flat, but are just a bit curved in, like a spoon.) You'll be able to spot the seed right off, cuz they look like seeds & they have a woody-looking "wing" when you first pull them out of the cone.

It takes a long time to get a pine tree seed started, & they ALWAYS have to go through a winter (or be stratified in the refrigerator) in order to germinate.

Personally, I think it'd be much quicker to dig up a first year seedling for your friend, if she wants to grow a tree in her yard.

She's in Brazil. I don't think I could afford the shipping cost to send her 40 or more seeds lol.

seedlings that is. I can afford to send the seeds. And the pine cone I had, had 20 seeds in it so I just have to find one more in about the same conditions. They sure do have a bunch of sap on them though.

Thankyou for helping me discover the seeds. I had no idea they produced wings on their seeds.

seeds are so tiny, maybe collect seeds from a couple of diffent pine trees.

If you send 100, your friend will have give-aways left over too.

I have maple and poplar in the back yard so she got plenty of extras with those as you can imagine. And I'm sending her some of the crepe mrytle that grows all over the place down her. I sent her the tree kind not the bush kind.

I didn't follow your link, my computer is very slow, but I guess you like trees. I do too. I wish I had a couple of acres where I could plant a bunch of nut and fruit trees. And a Bay Laurel of course.

You can send a small seedling in a bubble envelope.you'd have to wash the dirt off due to customs.you can wrap its roots in spagum moss& wrap roots in plastic and fold in piece of newspaper.I've done it to Canada& England.

I've collected pine seeds b4.I've picked them in the summer when they fall off and toss in bucket& in the fall shake the bucket around.seeds are in bottom of bucket.

TK, if by bay laurel you mean the herb "bay leaf" - that can be grown in a large pot.