Conifers do not have the flowers that usually appear in gardens and forests in spring. Their bloom is unlike any apple blossom or many other flowering trees. The flowers of conifers are cones, the male ones are most often yellow, and the female ones are pink. And therefore, some people are mistaken when they say that conifers do not bloom.
As such, the term "flowering" to conifers is not entirely customary to use, but in the scientific literature they talk about the flowering of spruce, pine, cedar. This is because in the spring, cones appear on such trees - a kind of reproductive organs. This is what is commonly called the flowering of conifers.
Northern conifers begin to bloom around April, even before the first leaves appear on deciduous trees, as abundant foliage can interfere with the spread of pollen. Usually coniferous flowers do not smell. The pollen is carried by the wind over long distances, and it is quite surprising in the spring to meet unusual colored dust on puddles and on the roadside.
Scots pine flowering
To see the similarities in the flowering of gymnosperms, it is worth comparing several different species for example. Scots pine blooms in late May / early June. Pine flowers are bare, monoecious and collected in cones. When flowering, young needles also bloom on the pine. Male inflorescences are collected in a kind of spikelets, and female ones - in small oval cones. Female and male inflorescences are located on different branches and at their very ends, so that the needles do not interfere with pollination.
Siberian larch flowering
Siberian larch blooms at the end of May, although it has been noticed that in more southern regions flowering begins in April. Flowering duration is approximately five to ten days. The cones are evenly distributed along the crown. Male inflorescences are collected in oblong spikelets of yellow or yellow-green color. And women, in turn, have a more rounded shape, the color varies from pale green to red-violet.
Blooming Siberian cedar
The cedar does not bloom across its entire width. The lower branches form the so-called growth layer. In Siberian cedar, like other conifers, female genital organs form cones - macrostrobila. They are formed either in a specific layer of the crown, or in a mixed one. In the year of flowering, the female cedar strobilus goes through six phases of ontogenesis: a standing or pressed bud, a bud, followed by an open, half-open and closed cone. Depending on temperature and weather conditions, the duration of each phase is three to six days. Male inflorescences are collected at the base of the branches and have an orange-crimson color.
For all conifers, the flowering process is approximately the same. The flowering time may vary depending on the climate, as well as the size and color of the male and female inflorescences, depending on the type of plant.
