Photo: Madison Rogers (WBZ)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — There are plenty of conifer trees that populate the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, but one tree in particular is getting a lot of attention for its cones.
A Lijiang spruce tree near the south end of Conifer Path typically produces two types of cones: pollen-producing males and seed-producing females.
This year, the tree has budded hermaphrodite conifer cones which produce both pollen and seeds. Nearly all of the cones are hermaphrodites, an extremely rare occurrence in such abundance.
"We’ve known for about 200 years that every so often, a tree will kind of lose the script and make cones that are half male and half female," Arnold Arboretum Director Ned Friedman told WBZ NewsRadio Thursday. "This is a really unusual occurrence, very, very rarely seen."
Friedman is excited not just for the rarity of the bloom, but how much interest arboretum visitors have in these unusual cones.
"I just love the idea that there’s a crowd of people around this tree. That is really good," Friedman said.
WBZ's Madison Rogers (@MadisonWBZ) reports.
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