You may pile them in buckets, kick them across the yard or decorate them for a craft, but did you ever think about the potential forest contained within every pinecone? Forest and timber land management company, Rayonier, gathers enough cones every fall to fill an 18-wheeler every year. But they don’t take just any pinecone: only the best of the best will do.
The magic happens when boy and girl pinecones are left alone – with supervision of course
First, a lesson in pinecones: there are actually two kinds of cones on every tree, not one.
Most of us are familiar with the full-grown female pinecone, known as the “flower” or megastrobilus. Growing near the top of the tree, it starts as a small bud and takes 18 months to reach the mature size we find on the ground in our yards.
There are also male cones called catkins, which grow lower on the tree. These slim, cylindrical cones are loaded with pollen. Once their pollen is released into the atmosphere, the short-lived catkins have served their purpose and fall to the ground. Catkins grow lower than flowers so the wind will blow their pollen away from their tree, pollinating neighboring trees rather than self-pollinating the tree on which they grow. (The variety in genetics is better for the tree’s offspring).
Giving genetics just a little push
Breeding trees to be as disease resistant, straight, and fast-growing as possible, requires great lengths to control both parents of the seed cones. Research teams at Rayonier cover the female cones in genetically-bred seed orchards with bags just before they’re ripe for pollination. Then they shoot pollen from their best tree families into the bags.
Raonier’s Serenia O’Berry explained:
“Our pine cones in no way have artificial genetic modifications. They’re bred the same way Mother Nature would do it, except we expedite the process.”
Once the flowers are pollinated, the bags are removed, and the flowers are left to grow for 18 months. Once full grown, each cone contains enough seeds to grow a forest: an average pinecone contains about 150 seeds, and cones from specially-bred trees can produce even more.
Picking pinecones for seed production
In the fall, the pinecones are full grown and ready to be picked. Timing has to be perfect: pick the cones while their scales are still closed tightly shut to ensure all seeds are still safely inside the cones. But they have to be mature enough that their “muscles” will be strong enough to open the scales after they’re picked. Years of forestry industry research has determined that cones are at exactly the right point when they have a specific gravity of .87.
How does Rayonier know when they’re ready? They float them in motor oil with a specific gravity of .88. If the cones float, they’re ready to pick. If they’re close to the surface, they’ll be ready in a few days. And if they sink to the bottom, they’ve got a while to go.
A hydraulic lift is then used to reach the treetops and carefully remove the cones, one branch at a time. The cones are loaded into 18-bushel crates, which are taken by tractor trailer to a seed extractory that will oven-dry the cones and process them to remove the seeds and dewing them (dewinging makes them easier to plant).
Processing the pinecone seeds
These seeds, used to plant the next generation of trees in Rayonier forests across the U.S., first travel to Elberta, Alabama, where they are nurtured in the rich soils of Rayonier’s seedling nursery for the first 18 months of growth. Then the seedlings are transplanted to Rayonier-owned forests.
Some of the cones are processed in a small tumbler to quality-test the number of seeds the cones are producing.
“These cones are usually post-ripened for about 6 weeks and then they’re put in a room with a dryer for 48 hours. When the cones open up, that’s when we know they’re ready for seed extraction.”
Bushels of cones are placed in a tumbler, which spins them, allowing the seeds to fall out into a bin below. Rayonier then runs the seeds through a handmade vibrating, vacuum-powered seed blower that cleans and de-wings them.
A simple float test is used to determine which seeds are viable. Seeds that float in a bucket of water will not be able to germinate, but those that sink will.
Then the seeds are counted using a machine called a seed counter.
Genetic research cones get special treatment
Rayonier constantly looks for ways to make their trees even healthier, straighter and faster-growing.
“We focus on the most advanced genetics because it contributes to the sustainability of our company, our industry, and the environment. The difference is striking when her team compares photographs of Rayonier forests from the mid-1900s to today’s forests. Our pine trees are much healthier, more robust and faster-growing than their ancestors.”
To continue improving, Rayonier uses special research forests in which they graft genetic research trees with high potential, then gather the cones and test the performance of their progeny. There are only a handful of cones for each family, so every seed plays an extremely important role. That’s why they process those cones completely by hand.
The research cones are collected and placed in bags labeled by family. Then Rayonier takes each cone apart by hand with pliers, ensuring they find every single seed. Once cleaned and counted, the seeds will be packaged by family and placed in a freezer until they’re ready to plant and test further.
“Processing cones is exciting because it’s a whole year-and-a-half worth of labor coming to fruition. It’s the next step in making sure we have the best possible seedlings for our forests.”
Planting trees by the millions
Just how many seeds does Rayonier produce every season? Enough to keep their seedling nursery busy: they grow and plant more than 30 million trees every year.
It all starts with the pollination of those baby pinecone flowers. Decades later, the trees that grow from the seeds in those pinecones will be the raw material needed to produce whatever wood, pulp and paper products the next generation requires.
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Hydraulic lifts collect pinecones in the treetops via Rayonier with usage type - News Release MediaRayonier pinecone seeds will be extracted and sent to seedling nursery via Rayonier with usage type - News Release Media
A handfuls of seeds after running bushels of cones through the tumbler via Rayonier with usage type - News Release Media
Female pinecone starts out as a tiny, bud-like flower via Rayonier with usage type - News Release Media
Male pinecone (catkin) produces pollen that will fertilize the female flowers via Rayonier with usage type - News Release Media
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Rayonier pinecone seeds will be extracted and sent to seedling nursery via Rayonier with usage type - News Release Media
