Keyed Out #044 — Pinus strobus

Question 1

Its leaves are narrow needles set spirally around the shoot, not tiny scales pressed flat in opposite pairs, and not broad leathery overlapping blades.

Accepted Answer

pine family

Question 2

Its woody seed {cone} is built of spirally set scales, and each fertile scale bears exactly two winged seeds on its upper surface.

Accepted Answer

Pinaceae

Question 3

Its needles are not borne singly along the shoot but bound into tight bundles on stubby dwarf shoots, each bundle wrapped at the base by a papery sheath.

Accepted Answer

Pinus

Question 4

Its cones need two to three growing seasons to ripen rather than a single season, so green and brown crops of different ages sit on the tree together.

Accepted Answer

Pinus

Question 5

Its cone scales are thin, flexible and entirely unarmed, carrying no prickle or spine at the tip, and they bleed beads of resin as they ripen.

Accepted Answer

Pinus strobus

Question 6

There are five needles to a bundle, soft and pliable enough to grip without being pricked, not two or three stiff ones that resist the hand.

Accepted Answer

Pinus strobus