The ovulate cone of the pine can take 3 years to mature. Once a pollen grain from a male cone (microstrobilus) has landed on the female cone (megastrobilus), fertilization of the egg takes a year! After fertilization, the resulting embryo must mature into a seed.
These are studies of immature female cones, specifically the archegonia, where the ovules are found. The ovules appear as eyes in the faces of the manipulated images.
botanartist 
This reminds me of a cross between red cabbage and pomegranate seeds.
That’s a great description. I appreciate that you compared it to two other plant materials. The nature of the the symmetrical manipulations I have done on many of these slides lend themselves to comparisons of animal-like things. I can’t decide if that is positive or not. Part of the reason I am doing this is to show that plants are cool and interesting. It’s not necessary to convince most people that animals are cool, they are so similar to us. If my intention is to elevate plants to the status that animals enjoy, I don’t know if finding animal qualities in images count as a success. Something for me to think about.
Beautiful staining! Did you prepare the slide yourself?
negative. these are slides from my botany lab.
All of the images you have posted are fascinating and exceptionally beautiful. I think it interesting that you are attempting to find ways to make plants more appealing to humans using the animal connection.
Thank you 🙂
It’s not exclusively my intention to embody animals in plants, but it has happened that way in many of these images.
very cool images … looking forward to more !