Douglas Fir Male Cones

We discovered these last year and found out that they are the male cones of the Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii. They are very short lived and soon disintegrate leaving the female cones, one of which is shown hanging down, to grow and remain on the tree. These male cones are usually a brighter red, but these were still holding water drops on a wet morning and I liked the photo for that reason. They were photographed on the Bowman Beach trail in Deception Pass State Park.