Pretty cool
this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2025
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Mycology
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That's a weird pinecone.
There are 111 species of Pinus
Looks at username... This guy clades.
Plus all the other conifers with cones that get referred to as "pinecones".
no u
What's a normal pinecone?
The thin spindly ones? I'm from south of the equator, we don't have a huge variety of pines here. Never seen anything like that.
Here's a chart from the Pacific Northwest. Only the top left quarter are actual pine cones but if you asked someone here what a "regular pinecone" is, they'd probably pick the Douglas fir cone (though TBF, "what kind of tree is a Douglas fir?" mystified science for decades).
Oh that's cool! The Poderosa pine is the only one I recognize, and I think that's because of a misguided attempt at "reforestation" that used this non native plant. The Araucária is the only native pine-like I know, but I don't know whether you'd call its massive dry fruit¹ a pinecone. Tasty seeds, though.
¹: 
Being from Texas, all of these look strange to me. If you ask us what a "regular pine cone" is, people would definitely point to a loblolly pine:
and that is how you Pickle The Pinecone