If it is organic, then it is mulch and can be placed some where. As fine as it looks, around plants or small trees. In the past I have used maple seeds for mulch, and in their proper place gum balls.

why not.. the best mulch is FREE MULCH ...

it took about 20 year.. for the blue light to start flashing.. but i finally realized that peeps rake up all the freely created self mulch the plant makes.. only to then go buy bagged mulch.. dude.. wtf.... lol

why in the world would you rake up all the pine needles under a pine tree... then complain grass wont grow under the pine.. then go buy mulch to replace the pine needle mulch you bagged and threw away...

ken

Looks like great mulch to me. Free is good. There are places I put fir cones which are larger. The texture is wonderful in the right spot.

There was the year my oaks ended up with a mulch of dead cicadas.

If it don't have too much resin on it, why not? I regularly have pine cones in my pine straw. I got three big pines that drop enough for themselves and enough on the drive for one of my beds. I have bigger cones than the OP, I tend to toss them into the garden paths to crush down. If they had a lot of resin on them I wouldn't, because that can be sticky and not always so great to garden around. I've had the occasional sticky cones.