Coniferous plants have flowers?

[T]

Hi All,

My Rosemary plant has flowers!

https://ibb.co/p2yhHJX

Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers? What am I missing?

They are awfully pretty!

-T

[d***@invalid.com]

Post by T
Hi All,
My Rosemary plant has flowers!
https://ibb.co/p2yhHJX

Goody. Pretty, eh? Mine blooms every winter, although, not as
profusely as the one pictured.

Post by T
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers?

Yep.

Post by T
What am I missing?

Maybe you aren't looking closely enough. They're inconspicuous but
the yellow pollen certainly isn't: It blankets _everything_ outdoors
down here every winter.

[T]

Post by d***@invalid.com

Post by T
Hi All,
My Rosemary plant has flowers!
https://ibb.co/p2yhHJX

Goody. Pretty, eh? Mine blooms every winter, although, not as
profusely as the one pictured.

I cheat a bit. I have a customer who is a genius with
a camera and gave me some tips. If I were to back
away with the camera or change the angle a bit, it
would not have looked so nice.

Post by d***@invalid.com

Post by T
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers?

Yep.

Post by T
What am I missing?

Maybe you aren't looking closely enough. They're inconspicuous but
the yellow pollen certainly isn't: It blankets _everything_ outdoors
down here every winter.

We get yellow pine tree pollen everywhere every year. Lucky, it
is non-allergenic. But I have never seen the flowers. I
have a Ponderosa Pie growing in my back yard. I will look more
closely. Mainly, I just smell the bark.

[Drew Lawson]

Post by d***@invalid.com

Post by T
Hi All,
My Rosemary plant has flowers!
https://ibb.co/p2yhHJX

Goody. Pretty, eh? Mine blooms every winter, although, not as
profusely as the one pictured.

Post by T
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers?

Yep.

That's where pinecones come from.

Post by d***@invalid.com

Post by T
What am I missing?

Maybe you aren't looking closely enough. They're inconspicuous but
the yellow pollen certainly isn't: It blankets _everything_ outdoors
down here every winter.

Had a ~40' white pine in our front yard. It's been gone for about
2 years, and I think there is still some pollen on my truck.

[T]

Post by Drew Lawson

Post by T
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers?

Yep.

That's where pinecones come from.

Nope. Pine trees are not classified as "angiosperms"
(flowering plants), so they don't actually have flowers.

[T]

Post by T
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers?

Yep.

Hi All,

I looked this up. Extremely interesting and explains
all the yellow pollen everywhere.

http://jakesnatureblog.com/2017/12/05/conifer-reproduction-how-do-they-reproduce/

Pine trees have two cones. Male and female. No flowers.

Pine trees are "wind" pollinated. The male cones are
typically on the lower half of the tree and the female
one (the ones that eventually develop into classical "pine cones")
are typically on the upper half of the tree. This is to assist
cross pollination and discourage self pollination.

Here is a picture of a male pine cone.

Loading Image...

I took economic botany in college. It was the most fascinating
course I took. I still remember it.

"Flowers" were a YUGE evolutionary improvement over wind pollination.
Requires far less pollen for one thing!

Just some trivia. You can tell a Ponderosa and a Jeffrey pine tree
by the cones. The Ponderosa's cones thorns curve outward and are
painful to pick up. The Jeffery's Pine cones thorns curve inward,
and are not painful to pick up. Both trees smell like butterscotch.
Yes, I am a tree smell-er, but not a tree hugger.

-T

[Alfred Falk]

Post by T
Hi All,
My Rosemary plant has flowers!
https://ibb.co/p2yhHJX
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers? What am I missing?

An elementary education in botany, perhaps?

Looking at the general form of a plant is generally not very helpful in
understanding its relation to other plants. Traditionally we looked at
their reproductive processes and morphology. Today genetic (DNA) analyses
are used. These mostly refine the older work, but make significant
correctlons.
What follows is a _very_ sketchy family tree relevant to your question.

All plants
- many groups (inluding mosses and ferns) that do not use seeds to
reproduce
- Seed-bearing (flowering) plants
- - Gymnosperms ("naked seeds")
- - - several groups that I'm not going to get into
- - - Cedars, junipers and bunch of others
- - - Pines, spruces, firs, etc;. "Conifers". They have two kinds of
cones: one that produces pollen, and the other produces ovules that receive
the pollen. The latter form the familiar seed cones when pollinated.
- - Angiosperms ("enclosed seeds", "flowering plants"
- - - Monocots (seeds have one cotolydon)
- - - - grasses
- - - - orchids
- - - - iris, tulips, and others
- - - - more groups
- - - Dicots (seeds have two cotolydons)
- - - - many groups that include most of the plants with showy flowers,
each group identifier by a their own particular flower structure.
- - - - mint family (have a particular flower structure)
- - - - - rosemary

Hope this makes some sense. If I've used unfamiliar terms, check Wikipedia.

Post by T
They are awfully pretty!

Yes, they are.

[T]

Post by Alfred Falk

Post by T
Hi All,
My Rosemary plant has flowers!
https://ibb.co/p2yhHJX
Coniferous (pine trees) plants have flowers? What am I missing?

An elementary education in botany, perhaps?
Looking at the general form of a plant is generally not very helpful in
understanding its relation to other plants. Traditionally we looked at
their reproductive processes and morphology. Today genetic (DNA) analyses
are used. These mostly refine the older work, but make significant
correctlons.
What follows is a _very_ sketchy family tree relevant to your question.
All plants
- many groups (inluding mosses and ferns) that do not use seeds to
reproduce
- Seed-bearing (flowering) plants
- - Gymnosperms ("naked seeds")
- - - several groups that I'm not going to get into
- - - Cedars, junipers and bunch of others
- - - Pines, spruces, firs, etc;. "Conifers". They have two kinds of
cones: one that produces pollen, and the other produces ovules that receive
the pollen. The latter form the familiar seed cones when pollinated.
- - Angiosperms ("enclosed seeds", "flowering plants"
- - - Monocots (seeds have one cotolydon)
- - - - grasses
- - - - orchids
- - - - iris, tulips, and others
- - - - more groups
- - - Dicots (seeds have two cotolydons)
- - - - many groups that include most of the plants with showy flowers,
each group identifier by a their own particular flower structure.
- - - - mint family (have a particular flower structure)
- - - - - rosemary
Hope this makes some sense. If I've used unfamiliar terms, check Wikipedia.

Post by T
They are awfully pretty!

Yes, they are.

It thought conifers were all monocots: parallel
veins on their leaves (needles). Double checking,
Rosemary is actually a dicot. Its flowers have
five pedals. (Monocots have three; dicots have
four or five.) I am going to have to count the
pedals! So Rosemary is not actually a conifer.

Looking up conifers, they are not classified are either
monocot or dicot.

It was a major evolutionary step when flowering plants
came along.

Conifers are not classified as "angiosperms" (flowering
plants), so they don't actually have flowers.