Recently, tourists who come to Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province can see a different kind of golden scenery on the canopy of Huangshan pine trees - Huangshan loose flowers!
Every year from early April to early June, Huangshan pine seems to be inspired by the spring breeze. Many small "eyes" of different colors stick out their small heads from the quiet and green pine leaves. Bright like stars, it is very lively, and the deep mountains and valleys are decorated with vitality.
Huangshan pine is a monoecious gymnosperm, so it can not only bloom, but its flowers are also divided into female cones and male cones.
The male cones are clustered at the base of the shoots, like a small slender stick.
The female cone appears a little later and is born near the top of the new branch, slender like a finger. When the pollen matures and completes pollination, the female cone will rapidly increase into an oval cone.
It takes about 2 years for the cones to mature, during which they gradually turn brown, which is commonly known as pine cones.
The color of the bulbs of Huangshan pine is diverse, and it will change with the flowering period sooner or later.
The new male cones are reddish-yellow, and gradually turn golden yellow as the flowering period goes on, and finally turn yellow-brown.
The pollinated female cones are pink, crystal clear and very beautiful.
(produced by Liu Honghe Liu Hao)
Responsible editor: [Lu Yan]