CONIFERALES 



237 



are fewer — one to eight — their arrangement is cyclic, and the spur, 

 with its leaves, falls off in the second to the twentieth year. 



In its first year's growth the long shoot of Larix bears simple leaves 

 which fall off at the end of the first season. In the second season, 

 buds from the axils of the simple leaves develop into spurs bearing 

 fascicled leaves. 



In Phyllodadus, the spur, or dwarf shoot, which is borne in the 

 axil of a leaf, becomes flattened, and functions as a leaf, while the 



Fig. 244. — Citpressus macrocaypa: Monterey, California 



very deciduous real leaf drops off. In Pinus and Sciadopitys leaves 

 are borne only on dwarf shoots, except in seedlings. In the rest, 

 leaves are borne on both kinds of shoots. 



With the great mass of the order in temperate regions, and with 

 most of the rest in warmer regions with rainy and dry seasons, the 

 annual rings are well developed. The character of the wood depends, 

 to a considerable extent, upon the relative amounts of spring and 

 summer wood, the early, large-celled spring wood being softer, while 

 the small-celled later wood is harder. Where the early and late parts 

 of the year's growth are nearly equal, and the transition between 

 them rather abrupt, as in Pseudotsuga taxifolia, the lumber is very 



