|
|
Article: SEVERAL PINONS NEEDED FOR NUTS.(Spotlight on Home and Gardening)
- Article from:
- Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
- Article date:
- August 16, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Rocky Mountain News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Dialog LLC by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Robert Cox CSU Cooperative Extension
Question: We planted a pinon tree in our yard 10 years ago because of its drought resistance, but we also were hoping to eat some of the pinon nuts. The cones and nut shells develop, but the shells are hollow, without any nuts. What's wrong? It also has clusters of small reddish powdery growths at the base of the new growth this year - what is that?
Answer: The reddish growths are actually the male flowers, called strobili. These shed pollen on the female flowers that we call cones, which take two seasons to mature. Pinons, like other pines, are wind-pollinated (wind moves pollen from male to female flowers on ...