First, I enjoyed making this drawing just because the pine cone is such a great-looking object. In the green, unopened state, a pine cone has a solid form that is dense and satisfying. The longleaf pine tree’s cones are the largest of any of the southern pine species. And the pattern of scales follows an interesting mathematical pattern, though it may not be immediately clear exactly what it is.
I’ve learned through experience that the type of spiralling pattern seen on pine cones follows the Fibonacci number sequence. For a fun, snappy 5-minute video on this topic, see Vi Hart’s Youtube episode “Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [1 of 3]”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0
I’ve learned through experience that the type of spiralling pattern seen on pine cones follows the Fibonacci number sequence. For a fun, snappy 5-minute video on this topic, see Vi Hart’s Youtube episode “Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [1 of 3]”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0
There are a lot of interesting things to be learned about longleaf pine trees (Pinus palustris). They are fairly easy to recognize because their needles are the longest. My favorite longleaf life stage to look at is the bottlebrush form in which the young tree grows straight up to a height of 3 to 4 feet with no branches. They do look like giant bottlebrushes (or if you haven’t seen a bottlebrush, think of a giant, very plushy pipe cleaner). The “grass” stage is also aptly named – seedlings look a lot like a tuft of grass and remain in this state for several years before shooting up into bottlebrush form. Mature trees reach a height of 110 feet or more, and can live 200 to 300 years.
Longleaf pines have an interesting connection to fire and the practice of controlled burning. Since longleaf pine trees have a significant ability to survive fire at certain life stages (as seedlings, and then later when the trees have developed thick bark), this kind of tree will become relatively more abundant after a fire. Periodic burning in longleaf pine habitat can create an open type of forest in which mature, tall longleaf pines form the upper canopy, with an open, grassy understory that harbors lots of biodiversity in terms of both plant and animal species. This was the forest that Native Americans promoted over a number of centuries through the use of controlled burning, and later colonial settlers in our region continued the practice. There are very few of these mature longleaf pine forests left, for various reasons including commercial emphasis on faster-growing pine species, reluctance to employ controlled burning, and encroaching development.
Longleaf pines have an interesting connection to fire and the practice of controlled burning. Since longleaf pine trees have a significant ability to survive fire at certain life stages (as seedlings, and then later when the trees have developed thick bark), this kind of tree will become relatively more abundant after a fire. Periodic burning in longleaf pine habitat can create an open type of forest in which mature, tall longleaf pines form the upper canopy, with an open, grassy understory that harbors lots of biodiversity in terms of both plant and animal species. This was the forest that Native Americans promoted over a number of centuries through the use of controlled burning, and later colonial settlers in our region continued the practice. There are very few of these mature longleaf pine forests left, for various reasons including commercial emphasis on faster-growing pine species, reluctance to employ controlled burning, and encroaching development.
The photo above is from http://www.tarleton.edu/Departments/range/Woodlands%20and%20Forest/
Longleaf%20Pine/longleafpine.htm
Find out more about visiting the Phinizy Swamp:http://naturalsciencesacademy.org/
Longleaf%20Pine/longleafpine.htm
Find out more about visiting the Phinizy Swamp:http://naturalsciencesacademy.org/
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