Pine trees are known as an iconic symbol of the holidays. But their origins aren’t very well known. 

These trees are found widely throughout the Northern Hemisphere and first appeared about 150 million years ago in the Mesozoic era. 

The iconic evergreen tree is found in most homes during the holidays. This tradition originated in the 16th century when German Christians brought pine trees into their homes to celebrate winter solstice. They believed that evergreen trees were a symbol of God’s everlasting life. 

After Germans started the traditions of decorating Christmas trees, many other ethnic groups followed. Romans believed that their trees symbolized light. They decorated their houses with evergreen trees to symbolize their celebration of Saturnalia. It is a festival that was held to honor their god of agriculture, Saturn. Freshman Pip Muthambi  says, “It’s very interesting how pine trees are used in so many different cultures.”

The way pine trees reproduce is their pinecones. The “typical” pinecone look is a female and a male pine cone is much tinier and only lives for a short amount of time. The male pine cone doesn’t have a hard shell around it and is more soft or sponge-like. 

Male pine cones release pollen into the air and hope it finds a female pine cone. If it reaches a female pine cone, it becomes pollinated and is able to reproduce. Freshman Eden Martin says, “I never really thought about how more pine trees grew, I thought it was just seeds, not pinecones.”