2 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [2:1- January, 1906 



Perhaps it is because they belong essentially to another geologic age 

 when the climate was far different than our climate of today, that they 

 do not shed their leaves in winter like the adaptable deciduous trees. 



There are so few of the evergreens in any locality that it is easy to 

 learn all the species present, and in this lesson we will study those 

 species most common in the Eastern United States. We shall discuss 

 the pines, the tamaracks, the spruces, the cedars, the firs, and the 

 hemlocks. 



There is one fundamental difference between the evergreens and 

 other trees, which has given rise to some hard botanical names. The 

 ovule is a little body that by the help of pollen ripens into a seed. 

 Most plant species, like the apples, the maples, the sweet-peas, 

 etc., have these ovules in a closed receptacle, which is called the ovary 

 where they ripen protected. Such plants are called Angiosperms, 

 which means "hidden seed." The cone-bearing plants or evergreens 

 bear these ovules naked, simply 1\ ing between the scales of the cones, 

 and they are called "Gymnosperms," which means "naked seed." 



Lesson on Ere/greens — How do e\ergretn tiees grow? What is the leader? 

 How does each year's growth affect the height of the tree and length of branches ? 

 If a branch on a tree is ten feet above the ground now will it be still higher twenty 

 years from now? Do evergreens shed their leaves? When? Is the vegetation 

 under evergreen trees the same as under deciduous trees? Why? What is a 

 cone? What is its shape? What sort of a flower is a young cone? How many 

 scales are there in the cone you are studying? Show by a sketch or description 

 the shape of one of the cone scales and its markings? How are these scales ar- 

 ranged in the cone? Where are the seeds in the cone? How are they distributed? 

 How are the evergreens useful to birds? 



TABLE FOR DETERMINING OUR COMMON CONE-BEARING TREES 



A. Leaves drop off in winter. Larch. 



A A. Leaves remain on trees all winter. 



B. Leaves in bundles enclosed in a short sheath at bottom. Pines. 



BB. Leaves opposite or in whorls. 

 C. Spray flat. Arbor-vitce or White cedar. 



CC. Spray four sided. Red cedar. 



BBB. Leaves alternate scattered along the stem. 



C. Winter buds covered with resin looking as if varnish had been brushed 

 over them. Leaves flat. Fir. 



CC. Winter buds not resinous. 



D. Leaves four sided. Spruce. 



DD. Leaves flat. 



E. Whitish beneath, short, flat, blunt. Hemlock. 



EE. Leaves lighter green underneath, longer, pointed. A low 



shrub. Yew or Ground Hemlock. 



