Strobile

What Does Strobile Mean?

In botany, the strobile refers to spirally-arranged scales or sporophylls across the plant’s central stem. In some cases, the strobile may be arranged in an overlapping fashion that resembles a cone. It should be noted that while the strobile is sometimes referred to as a cone, most botanists would rather limit the use of this term to conifers.

Maximum Yield Explains Strobile

The strobile usually acts as a primary distinguishing feature of non-flowering shrubs and plants, including horsetails, conifers, pines, certain club mosses and every type of gymnosperms. The strobile forms part of one of the main reproductive parts of the plant. In most plants, it also encourages spore dispersal. According to botanists, the strobile can protect and house the sporangia in certain plant species.

While conifers only have compound seed strobili and simple pollen strobili, gnetophytes tend to have both the seed and the pollen strobili. Some flowering plants such as catkins display inflorescences that may physically look like strobili, but these parts are made up of a more complex structure.