cone (botany)

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In botany, the reproductive structure of the conifers and cycads; also known as a strobilus. It consists of a central axis surrounded by numerous, overlapping, scalelike, modified leaves (sporophylls) that bear the reproductive organs. Usually there are separate male and female cones, the former bearing pollen sacs containing pollen grains, and the larger female cones bearing the ovules that contain the ova or egg cells. The pollen is carried from male to female cones by the wind (anemophily). The seeds develop within the female cone and are released as the scales open in dry atmospheric conditions, which favour seed dispersal.

In some groups (for example, the pines) the cones take two or even three years to reach maturity. The cones of junipers have fleshy cone scales that fuse to form a berrylike structure. One group of angiosperms, the alders, also bear conelike structures; these are the woody remains of the short female catkins, and they contain the alder fruits.

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