CONIFERS. 509 



verticillate (fig. 734) ; radicle next the apex of the seed, organically 

 connected with the albumen. Trees or shrubs, with branched, usually 

 resinous trunks, the wood marked with circular disks (figs. 47, 48, 808) 

 the leaves usually narrow, rigid or acerose, entire (fig. 147), sometimes 

 fascicled, and with a scaly sheath at their base (fig. 728 b). They are 



found in various parts of the world, both in cold and hot regions. They 

 abound in the temperate regions of Europe and America, and many 

 occur in Australasia. Four genera of Coniferas, A raucaria, Phyllocladuf, 

 Microcachrys, and Arthrotaxis, are peculiar to the southern hemisphere. 

 The following attain their maximum to the south of the tropics, Cal- 

 h'tris, Podocarpus, and Daciydium. Dammar a has one species in each 

 hemisphere. 



1043. The order is a very extensive one, and has been divided into 

 the following suborders : 



1 . Abietinese, the Fir and Spruce tribe : fertile flowers in cones, with 1 or 2 

 inverted ovules at the base of each scale ; embryo in the axis of fleshy and 

 oily albumen, di- or poly-cotyledonous. Under this tribe are included the 

 following sections and sub-sections : 



A. Scales 2-seeded, seeds adnate to the scale, and at length separating 

 from it ; anthers bilocular. 



a. Scales with a thickened apophysis, which is either entire or dimidiate. 



Pinus Leaves in twos, threes, fours, or fives. 



b. Scales without an apophysis. 



* Leaves solitary. 



Abies. Scales deciduous, leaves flat. 

 Picea. Scales persistent, leaves tetragon ous. 

 Tsuga. Scales persistent, leaves flat. 



* * Leaves fasciculated. 



Fig. 732. Scale of a young cone seen on the inside, f, The scale. , The point by which it is 

 attached to the axis of the cone, o o, The two naked inverted ovules, m, Their upper opening 

 or foramen to which the pollen is applied. The foramen was formerly described erroneously as a 



Fig. 733. A scale from a mature cone, e. The scale, t, Point of insertion, g. One of the 

 winged seeds ; the other having been removed. 



Fig. 734. The seed cut longitudinally, a, Base of the wing, t, Integument, p, Penspemi 

 (albumen), e, Polycotyledonous embryo. Near the radicle are the remains of two other abortive 

 embyros. 



