Thomas Cain, former Landscape Architect (1979-2017). Answered Apr 15, 2018 ยท Author has 489 answers and 61.7k answer views. Pine cones shelter pine seeds until conditions are right to release the seeds and grow new pine trees. That is their core function, regardless of what humans do with them. read more
You can burn them. They pop quite a bit so you probably want to do it in a closed burner of some kind, but they burn just fine. read more
But the distinction gets blurry when you look at junipers which have little cones that have developed aromatic flesh and are called juniper berries. Or flowering plants such as Casuarina and Banksia which have two-valve woody capsules which are fruits, which are conglomerated into what is effectively a cone. read more