p s t e I s ia 151 



without a fleshy outer covering, concealed be- 

 tween the scales of the woody, fleshy or berry- 

 like cone. 



A family comprising about twenty-five genera 

 and three hundred species, most abundant in 

 temperate regions. Four sub-families are rec- 

 ognized: the Araiicariece, trees of the southern 

 hemisphere, the TaxoidecB, trees of southern and 

 south-western North America, southeastern x\sia 

 and Tasmania, and the two sub-families, Abie- 

 tinecc and Cuprcssinea: described below. 

 Sub-Family Abietine^ 



Leaves spirally arranged. Pistillate cones with 

 two kinds of scales, borne in pairs, spirally ar- 

 ranged upon the axis, each pair consisting of a 

 carpel or bract scale (commonly referred to as 

 the bract), bearing in its axil the usually larger 

 placental scale (commonly referred to as the 

 scale) which in turn bears two inverted ovules 

 on its upper side. 



Trees with linear or acicular foliage leaves, 

 "needles", which may be obviously spiral in 

 their arrangement, or may be apparently two- 

 ranked as a result of the twisting of the petioles, 



