23 Pinecones-Mid

Pinecones FOCUS Question How do pinecones help new pine trees grow?

What Is a Pinecone? Pine trees have a very special kind of fruit. Pinecones! A fruit is the part of a plant that has seeds. Pinecones hold pine seeds. Do You Know? There are over one hundred kinds of pine trees. Each one has its own type of pinecone.

Pinecones come in many sizes. Some pinecones are small. The piñon (pin-YOHN) pinecone is only the size of your thumb. Some pinecones are big. The sugar pine cone is as long as your arm. Another kind of pinecone is as heavy as a gallon of milk!

Scales Go Round and Round Pinecones are made of many small pieces of wood. Each piece is a scale. The scales make curved lines in the shape of a spiral around the pinecone. Can you see the spirals on this pinecone?

Two seeds grow inside most scales. The scales stay closed until the seeds are ready to grow into a new tree. The pinecone dries out. The scales open. Now the seeds can fall out.

Flying Seeds Many pine seeds have tiny wings. The wings help seeds float like paper airplanes. Seeds need dry air to fly. If it rains, the scales on the pinecone close up. Then the seeds stay dry. The scales open again when the rain stops. When the seeds land, they need soil and sunlight to grow.