Pinus sylvestris is a common pine species that is native to Eurasia. You may recognise their scaly pine cone (the female), but in fact all pine trees have male cones too – usually smaller and less conspicuous than their female counterparts. The male cones produce pollen, which is brought by wind to the female cone, where it fertilises the egg, forming a seed.
All pines are Gymnosperms, which in its Greek origins means ‘naked seed’. Unlike the more common Angiosperms - flowering trees that produce seeds enclosed in an ovule (e.g. apples), Gymnosperms’ are exposed and form on the surface of the plant.