CLASS II. GYMNOSPERMS. 



Ovules not enclosed in an ovary, fertilized by the pollen without 



the intervention of a pistil, and becoming truly naked seeds, the 



carpel being represented by a flat open scale or entirely wanting. 



Embryo with 2 opposite, or several whorled cotyledons. 



ORDER CXXXllI. CONIFER.^. ne Fir Tribe. 



Fls. — MoiifEcious ordioBcious, tleslitute of calyx or corolla. 



Stekile, monaudrous or monadelphous, collecled in a kind of loose ament. 



A>tth. — 2 or many-lobed, often tipped with a crest. Pollen large, usually compound. 



Fertile, in amenls composed of open, scale-like carpels, or solitary and without a carpel. 



Ovary, sty'.", and stigma wanting'. Ovules 1, 2 or many, erect or inverted. 



Fr — A strobile (cone), or a solitary' seed. Integuments hard and crustaceous. 



Embryo in ihe axis of oily albumen. 



Trees or shrubs, with branching trunks, abounding in resinous juice. Leaves scattered 

 or fascicled, linear or acerose (rarely lanceolate), rigid, parallel-veined, anil generally 

 evergreen. Thef are natives of all climates Imt most abundant in the temperate zones, 

 tho.'jf of tlie southern, however, very different from the pines, spruces, larches and cedars 

 of the northern. 



Friipniir.'s. Few orders can be named, which are of more importance to mankind, 

 whether in reference to their invaluable timber or their resinous secretions. Turjvntine, 

 tar, pitch and resin are the proiluct of the pines. Bnrgitndy pilch is yielded by Pinus sylves- 

 tris of Kurope ; Venetian tuqientine, by the Larix ; oil of Savin by Juniperus Sabina of 

 Europe, &c. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



(Leaves scale- ( Fertile scales 4 — 8-ovuled. . . Cupressvs. Z 



< like, imbricate. ( Feitile scales 2-ovuled. . . Thujn. 3 



fa woody cone. ( Leaves linear or acerose Pinus. 1 



I !i fleshy berry with 3 bony seeds. Leaves mostly acerose. . . Juniperus. 4 



Fruit ( a fleshy drupe with a single seed. Leaves linear, 2-ranked. . . Taxus. 5 



1 . PINUS. 



Flowers monoecious. Sterile. — Scales peltate, each bearing 

 2, sessile, 1-celled anthers. Ferlilc, in ovoid aments. Car- 

 pellary scales closely imbricate, each bearing a pair of ovules 

 adhering to the base inside, and subtended byabiact outside; 

 fruit a woody strobile or cone; seeds winged, cotyledons 

 2—15. 



Celtic, pin or pen, a rock or mountain ; many species of this noble genus 

 prefer such situations. Lvs. linear or acerose, solitary or fasciculate, mostly 

 evergreen. Aments of the barren flowers numerous, deciduous. 



i Leaves evergreen, in fascicles of 2 — 5, sheathed at base, acerose. Scales of the cone 

 thickened at the summit. 1'inus vera. 



1. P. RESIN0'S.\. Lambert. P. rubra. Mx. 



Leaves in pairs, channeled, elongated,"vvith elongated sheaths ; cones ovoid- 

 conic, rounded at the base, subsolitary , about half as long as the leaves ; scales 



