A pinecone is the woody, cone-shaped seed pod that grows on pine trees and many other types of evergreen trees. Each pinecone is covered in overlapping scales arranged in a beautiful spiral pattern. When you find a pinecone on the ground, you're holding something that started out tightly closed on a branch, protecting dozens of tiny seeds inside.

Pinecones work like nature's packaging system. When the weather is dry and warm, the scales open up and release their seeds, which often have little wing-like structures that help them spin away on the wind. When it's wet or cold, the scales close back up to protect any remaining seeds. You can test this yourself: put a closed pinecone in a warm, dry place and watch it gradually open over a few days.

Different evergreens produce different kinds of cones. Some are small and round, barely bigger than a marble. Others, like those from sugar pine trees, can grow longer than a football. Kids often collect pinecones for craft projects or holiday decorations, and squirrels depend on them as a vital food source, gnawing through the scales to reach the nutritious seeds inside.