THE SEED-PLANT DIVISION 393 
the yew (Taxus) not only is the perianth lacking and the 
andreecium reduced to a few stamens, but the gyncecium is 
only a solitary ovule borne directly upon the torus and with- 
out a carpel. This ovule ripens usually into a hard seed 
which is surrounded by a fleshy envelope formed by the 
upgrowth of a ring which at first encircles the base. Such 
an accessory seed-covering growing from below is called an 
aril.1. In other members of the family the staminate flowers 
are more cone-like, and there are a few with much reduced 
carpels each bearing a single ovule which may ripen into a 
drupaceous seed. 
The family consists of mostly evergreen, woody plants, with 
comparatively little resin or none at all; having cones much 
reduced, or else the ovules solitary and without carpels; and the 
seed arillate or drupaceous. 
159. The pine order (Coniferales or Coniferz) comprises 
only the two families given above. They are distinguished 
as woody plants, with branched stem; unbranched, usualiy 
narrow, leaves; and imperfect flowers which have no perianth, 
but are often catkin-like, and commonly produce cones. 
See formula of Coniferales on pages 426, 427. 
160. The naked-seed class (Gymnospermez), embraces 
only a few orders besides the pine order, with only one or 
two families in each. They all agree in being seed-plants 
with gymnospermous gyncecium, and are for the most part 
destitute of perianth. 
161. The seed-plant division (Spermatophyta) is coexten- 
sive with that branch of the Vegetable Kingdom commonly 
known as Phanerogamia, phenogams, or flowering plants, 
because characterized by the production of flowers contain- 
ing at least either pollen-sacs or ovules. Since the produc- 
tion of seed is the function of these parts, and since no other 
plants produce true seeds containing an embryo, it is equally 
appropriate to speak of them as seed-plants, seedworts, or 
spermatophytes. 
The system of classification (although not always the 
sequence of groups) adopted in the foregoing pages is sub- 
1Aril<. L. arillus, a dried grape (for no obvious reason). 
