Treasures in a Pinecone

By Jan Black

Find out why a pinecone changes throughout the year.

One warm day when I was walking in my backyard, I saw a pinecone on the ground. I picked it up, and some seeds fell out of it. Those seeds would be a tasty treat for a squirrel, I thought. Would a squirrel find the seeds in time for dinner?

I realized that pinecones were not always open like this one. Sometimes cones were tightly closed. I decided to find out why.

I read about pinecones in books and on the Internet. I interviewed a pinecone expert. I gathered pinecones from my backyard and kept them outside on my deck. I watched them for over a year. Here’s what I learned.

Pinecones open and close slowly as the weather changes. When it’s cold or wet, cones are tightly closed. This protects the seeds inside from rain and snow.

When the weather becomes warm and dry, pinecones open. In a forest of pine trees on a hot day, you might even hear the crackling sound of cones popping open. The seeds inside may then fall to the ground. The wind may blow the seeds to places where they can grow into new pine trees. A seed has a better chance of taking root and growing when the weather is warm.

Seeds Are Food, Too
“Pine seeds are an important source of food for many animals,” says Monty Maldonado. He is a pinecone expert with the United States Forest Service. He says squirrels depend on pinecone seeds for most of their meals. They spend lots of time gathering and storing the cones. Maldonado says some animals eat only the seeds from a pinecone. But red squirrels and gray squirrels will eat the whole thing.

	A pinecone is sometimes closed.

Small animals aren’t the only creatures who eat pine seeds. Maldonado says big grizzly bears and people eat them, too.

You may have eaten the seeds of the pinyon pine, which grows in the western United States. These seeds are also known as pinyon nuts, or pine nuts. They are used in salads, puddings, cakes, candy, cookies, and pesto sauce.

Seeds inside a pinecone are important for the growth of new trees and as food for animals. It is the pinecone’s job to protect and release them. So take note of the pinecones you see on the ground. They hold treasures inside.

See for Yourself!

A pinecone is sometimes open.

Find some pinecones and keep them outside where you can look at them for several months. Take a photo or draw a picture of your pinecones when you first get them. Make more pictures as the cones change. In a notebook, keep track of changes in the weather. Write down what happens to your pinecones. Do some of the cones open or close more quickly than others?

You may see signs that a squirrel or another small animal has torn your pinecones apart, looking for seeds to eat.

Photos: Open and Closed Pinecones on Tree by David Liebman; Pinecone Group by Getty Images; Individual Pinecones by Sarah Owens.