Pine tree flowers

It's a good job I am not allergic to pine pollen, as this is the time of year when there is rather a lot of it around. Everything gets covered in a fine yellow dust, and you can see clouds of it blowing from the trees in a gust of wind. 
The flowers are not actually flowers apparently, but they are quite pretty. This little collection was in a tree about 20 feet above our decking.

I did a little research on the so called flowers and discovered the following:
Pine trees do not produce flowers because they belong to a class of plants called gymnosperms. Unlike flowering plants, pine trees are unique because they produce naked seeds that are protected by pinecones. Additionally, because pine trees are gymnosperms, they evolved to produce both male and female cones which serve specific purposes to produce future trees. Female pinecones are the only ones with viable seeds which are pollinated from the pollen released by separate male pinecones.