@houstonbotanic: Bless you. Pinus elliottii, or slash pine, is producing clouds of yellowish pollen in the Carnivorous Bog of the Susan Garver Family Discovery Garden. Since this tree is an angiosperm, it does not produce flowers but instead creates male and female cones called strobili. These male cones (always purple in color on slash pines) disperse pollen via a process called wind pollination. Then it’s a game of luck — will the pollen attach to the female reproductive part of another slash pine, or will it be inhaled by an unsuspecting horticulturist downwind, causing an involuntary reaction known as sternutation (achoo!) #pollen #pinecone #achoo

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Thursday 26 February 2026 16:54:08 GMT