The Beech 



THE trees with needlelike leaves, with small 

 seeds in their cones, are mostly evergreens. 

 Conifers, they are called. The others, with broad 

 leaves and no cones, the seeds usually growing 

 separately, are broadleaf or hardwood trees. 



The wood of a cone-bearing tree is quite soft, 

 often filled with pitch, while the broadleaves 

 nearly always have a harder, finer wood. The 

 pine and spruce are softwoods, but the beech, 

 birch, hickory, oak, and many other trees belong 

 to the hardwood family. Many of the hardwoods 

 come up as shoots or sprouts from the stumps of 



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