CHAPTER L 



THE SEED PLANTS 

 ( SPERMATOPHYTES ) 



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In most places throughout the world the seed plants constitute the 

 conspicuous part of the land flora. They may be magnificent trees 

 over 300 feet high with trunk diameters of 25 to 50 feet. They may 

 be vines that climb to the tops of the tallest trees, or that extend hori- 

 zontally for distances approaching a quarter of a mile. The majority 



Fig. 319. The longest diameter of this largest cypress (Taxodium mucronatuni) 

 is more than 50 feet. This tree is in a churchyard in the village of Santa Maria del 

 Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo by Don Classman. Courtesy of New York Botanical 

 Carden. 



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