The Pine Cone Bush

I was just wondering..is a tree identified by the fruit it bears? I mean, just think about it for a minute. Is an apple tree named because it bears apples? Does a peach tree get its name from the peaches on its limbs? An orange tree? A pine tree? These are all good assumptions but does the tree get its name from the fruit? Or does the fruit get its name from the tree? I think not! (In either case!) And to give proof of this, I present this counterargument!

Down near the pier there is a small, scrubby bush. On this bush is a goodly number of cones! Not just any cones...these happen to be quite positively identified as "pine" cones! Now, I ask you..does that make this a pine bush? A pine bush? Who ever heard of a pine "bush"? Well..there it is...a certifiable bush with certifiable pine cones hanging all over it! And...to top it all off, there are no pine needles on this bush! It has little slender leaves (what leaves are left hanging on the bush in the middle of Winter!).

I walk past this bush every day on my way to and from the pier but I have never noticed the cones even once until yesterday. As Ezzy and I were about to step off the pier the light from the setting sun spotlighted the little bush. The cones caught my eye and caused me to stop in my tracks. Pine cones on a bush? This truly deserved investigation! I stepped closer to the bush..yep!..pine cones, all right! Wow..I was duly impressed! There in the edge of the marsh was the one and only pine cone bush in the world! I poked at one of the pine cones and to my disdain it plopped right off the bush. Aww, now..how can I lay claim to the one and only of its sort if the cones fall off of the branches with a mere touch?

I am teasing with this whole thing as the pine cone bush is simply a Groundsel bush that was decorated with a slew of cones from a nearby pine tree. The cones had fallen from the treetop and became wedged in the network of branches of the bush. It did give the appearance that the cones belonged on the bush but perhaps that was due to the position each cone had taken. The number of cones in the bush caused me to look around under the pine tree. My goodness! The ground was littered with the cones and such pretty ones at that! I ran to grab a basket! I quickly gathered a number of the cones to be used for my pine cone garlands for the next holiday season! Gathering them in February will give me plenty of time to string the garland together! Pine Tree or Pine Cone Bush...it matters not to me as long as I can reap the benefits of a good cone crop! Pretty! Pretty!