The Seniors of the Forest 



271 



For these seedlings enter the world with what 

 children call " a great plenty " of 

 first leaves, from three to sixteen 

 of them, ar- 

 ranged like the 

 spokes of a 

 wheel (Fig. 75). 

 These are need- 

 le-shaped, and 

 the leaves which 

 follow them are also needle- 

 shaped or scale-like, and differ 

 markedly from the broad, flat 

 foliage borne by the beeches, 

 oaks, and maples. 



Thus our native cone-bearers 

 are fitted to cope with the 

 rather trying circumstances in 

 which their lives are spent. 

 For hemlocks, spruces, pines, 

 firs, and red cedars inhabit 

 coasts, mountains, and high 

 latitudes. 



All down the Atlantic 



shore from Maine to southern 



FIG. 75. A seedling pine. 



Florida pines, cedars, and junipers form a natural 



