The humble pinecone has always been a powerful symbol of regeneration. Some of the earliest records are from Ancient Sumerian palace carvings that date back to 713-716 BC which depict winged gods holding pinecones and using them to pollinate the tree of life. What other mysteries do they hold? 

In environments where hot, fast moving fires are frequent, some pine species have developed very thick, hard cones that are literally glued shut with a strong resin. These “serotinous” cones can hang on a pine tree for years, long after the enclosed seeds mature. Only when a fire sweeps through, melting the resin, do these heat-dependent cones open up, releasing seeds that are then distributed by wind and gravity. 

Examples of this fascinating trait of fire-stimulated seed dispersal include Jack pine (Pinus banksiana, also called grey pine and scrub pine) in the north central and northeastern United States and Table Mountain pine (Pinus pungens, also called hickory pine, prickly pine or mountain pine) that grows in dry, rocky sites in the Appalachian Mountains. Lodgepole pines, ubiquitous across much of the West, are one of the first species to grow after a fire because of their serotinous cones.