INTRODUCTION. 13 



and Saltsburia r ,produce deciduous leaves,and the remainder 

 of the family are all evergreen, or have persistent foliage. 



The chief peculiarity of this order is in the naked ovules 

 or rudiments of seeds, which are borne mostly on the inner 

 surface of a scale or carpellary leaf, and fructified by the im- 

 mediate application of the pollen, without the service of a 

 pistil or the appendages of calyx and corolla. The flow- 

 ers are borne principally in aments or clusters, and are 

 either in the axils of the leaves, as in the Junipers and 

 Yews, or at the extremities of the branches, as in the 

 Pines and Cypresses. In the pistillate aments each indi- 

 vidual carpellary scale acts as a separate and distinct flow- 

 er, and the whole combination, when mature, forms a spe- 

 cies of multiple fruit, or, as it is generally designated, a 

 cone. The sterile flowers are also in aments, and usually 

 consist of a small collection of stamens, adhering to the 

 under side of a scale. 



In fruiting, this order displays a great diversity of forms 

 and characters. In the sub-order AbietinaB and most of the 

 CupressinaB the species are recognized by the woody cones 

 of different sizes and shapes, whilst in the Juniperus and 

 Taxacese the fruits in their primitive condition are small 

 cones and furnished with carpellary leaves, but swelling 

 at maturity into drupe-like berries, or fleshy, naked drupes. 

 The albumen of the seeds is of an oily, fleshy consistency, 

 with the embryo in. the axis. The cotyledons in this 

 family range from two to many in a whorl. 



The near affinity displayed between many genera, as in 

 Larix and Cedrus, Abies and Picea, Cupressus and 

 Chamcecyparis (. ? ), Taxodium and Qlyptostrobus, etc., 

 has caused much controversy and apparent diversity of 

 sentiment in many of the authorities before quoted ; and 

 even to this day no established rule can possibly be given 

 to settle these disputed points. In the sub-orders, any one, 

 by careful study, can ascertain the leading characteristics 

 that bind together the different genera composing them, 



