I have trouble distinguishing the baldycypress (T. distichum) and dawn redwood (M. glyptostroboides) trees, but the cones are quite different. Above, the baldycypress cones are to the left, the dawn redwood to the right. I have a house full of pods, seeds, and cones, I’ve never found very many baldycypress cones before. They break up very easily. (The two above are actually already open at the bottom.) But, with a good number of everything thrown down from above in last weekend’s strong winds, I found a mess of them recently in Green-Wood.
The pieces on the top right of the above image are the plate or scale pieces of the baldycrypress cone. Below them are the actual seeds.
And these are the seeds in more detail. No two are alike. The cones have a reddish yellow resin inside that is very sticky and stainy (for you, readers, I go to extremes of messiness), and a nice subtle smell.
Natural Object: Cones
One response to “Natural Object: Cones”
-
Yes, I know about the resin on those seeds. My white-haired dog is now turning yellow because of all of the cypress seeds he is getting stuck to his fir.
The cypress in our backyard grew a huge crop of cones last year. I hope like oak trees it needs a few years of rest before it does that again. I’d like my dog’s fur to be white again.
Backyard and Beyond 
Leave a comment