The making of a pinecone

A few days ago I found a pine tree with limbs hanging close to the ground. I noticed that new pinecones were forming near the ends of some of the limbs.

It was interesting to find the limb I show you here. It has an old cone from last year still hanging on. Beside it to the right are a couple of male cones, which the tree uses for pollination. These male cones do not form what we all call pinecones.

The green cone hanging at the lower right is a new female cone that will become the pinecone. Inside the female cone tiny seeds are forming.