Re: need experiment to find out which pinecones are male or female

The persistent woody pine cones you are familiar with are all female cones. 
They originally held the seeds. 

The male cones are smaller, not woody and fall off the tree soon after they 
have released the pollen. The male cones soon decay. It is easy to miss the 
male cones because they do not remain on the tree very long. The male cones are 
not used in craft projects as the female cones are.

If it is woody or contains seeds, it is a female cone.

If it is nonwoody and contains dustlike pollen, it is a male cone.



References


Pine Cone Photos


Pine Cone Types


The Nature of Cones