1 7o CONIFER AE 



mostly endemic gen. In Pacific N. Am. is another region, with 

 Pseudotsuga Douglasii, -Sequoia, Taxodium, Chamaccyparis, Law- 

 soniana, Thuja gigantea, and Libocedrus decurrens, together with 

 endemic Abies, Tsuga, Finns, &c. The Himal. forms another great 

 centre, with many peculiar sp., e.g. Cedrus Dcodara, Finns excdsa, 

 and others, Picea sp., Tsuga sp., &c. The C. of the *_ are separated 

 from those of the ^ by a broad band of trop. forests, &c., partially 

 broken by groups of C. on the Mts. of the Indomal. region and Am. 

 In Austr. we find Araucaria, Agathis. Podocarpus, Callitris, Micro- 

 cachrys, Athrotaxis, Actinostrobus, &c. In Tasm., N.Z. and Chili 

 appear Phyllocladus, Fitzroya, &c. 8. Am. has Araucaria sp., Podo- 

 carpus sp., and others. Few gen. and no sp. of C. appear in both N. 

 and S. hemispheres ; each sp. is limited to a well-defined area. 



Trees or shrubs, usu. monopodial, often of considerable or even 

 (Sequoia) gigantic size. Typically, as may be seen in a fir or larch 

 plantation, a certain amount of growth is made each year and a 

 number of branches are also formed much at the same level, so that 

 in trees of moderate size the number of ' whorls ' of branches is an 

 index of the age. Later on the lower branches usu. die off and the 

 branching near the apex becomes less reg. The main stem is radially 

 symmetrical, but the branches, which often grow almost horiz., have 

 a tendency to dorsiventrality, expressed in a two-ranked arrangement 

 of the 1., twisting of the 1. on their stalks, and so on. Many C. show 

 a difference in their shoots ; some (long shoots, or shoots of unlimited 

 growth) grow continuously onwards, except for the interruption in 

 winter; others (short shoots, shoots of limited growth, or spurs) grow 

 only to a definite size, usu. very small, and bear a few 1. Inter- 

 mediate conditions occur in Larix, Cedrus, Taxodium, &c. When 

 both kinds occur the foliage 1. are often borne on the short shoots 

 only (see Pinus &c. for details). The green 1. are usu. entire and 

 are either needle-like, flat and linear, or closely appressed scales 

 (Cupressus, &c.). Mention may be made of the curious 'double- 

 needles' of Sciadopitys and the flat green short shoots of Phyllo- 

 cladus ((/?'.). 



Anatomically, the C. resemble Dicots. in all important points. 

 A very general feature (exc. Taxus) is the presence of resin passages 

 in all parts of the pi. The 1. exhibit a somewhat peculiar internal 

 structure, suited to xero pi., under which class most C. come, living 

 in cold soil, as most do, and often with evergr. 1. 



In the fl. we are met with great difficulties. There are two 

 theories about its morphology, those of Eichler (Biiithcndiag. or 

 Nat. Pfl.) and of Celakovsky (see Warming's System. Bot. or Bot. 

 Jahresb. 1890, p. 324, also Noll in Bot. Centr. 60, p. 131). We 

 cannot discuss these (see Worsdell, in Ann. of Bot. 14, 1900, p. 39), 

 but shall merely state both. As the order is usu. classified according 

 to the Eichlerian view, we have adopted this in the classification and 

 the details of the gen. 



The fls. of C. appear as a rule in the form of cones, and are always 

 unisex., mon- or dioecious. They are never term, on the main stem 

 as in Cycads, but are usu. borne lat. near to its apex. Sometimes 

 (as in Pinus <?) the cones are massed together in spikes or heads. 



