Appreciation: Pine cones open and close in response to weather

This is going around on social media right now:
Pine Cones Open and Close in Response to Weather — Biological Strategy — AskNature
On Facebook, some comments say "yes they do" and others say "I see them all the time, no they don't".

 

Likely due to looking at old cones, where the reaction to wetting and drying declines as the fibres slowly rot and decay, and/or break due to excessive repetitions of wet/dry flexing.

There's also a few pines that don't have the water-sensitive fibres; species where the seed is dispersed by birds rather than the wind, so having the scales flex open to release the seed is not desirable. Applies to Pinus albicaulis, P. cembra, P. koraiensis, P. pumila, P. sibirica, and one or two others.

 

Thanks for posting. I actually just noticed this on some recently cut branches of my Sonderegger pine.