r. 



A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLANT KINGDOM 



diuniou pint''' is liiphly viJutxl. The yew wood is 

 hard juid siisi-ept iblo of a high polish. It is iisi-d in 

 cabinot work juul for bows. Tho sood and shoots of yi'W 

 an> s;ud tti ho [Hiisonous. but tlio arilhis is liannlcss. 



In cultivation in .Vnierica arc a few genera for orna- 

 mental punxises; Cephalotaxiis, East Asia; Podoear- 

 pus. Chile, Japsui. Australia, H'own in the South; Taxus 

 (Yew), F,urv>pe, Asia. North America; Torreya (Cali- 

 foniia Nutmeg*, California to Florida. 



IS. Pinacete (from the genus Piintu, the classical 

 I^itin mune*. I'lXK K.\mii.y. Fig. o. Trccor shrub, with 

 no true vessels in the secondary wood, but witli resin- 

 tubes: leaves linear, or ncedle-liUc, or scale-like, 

 alternate or opposite, evergreen or ileciduous: anthers 

 and ovule* both in true cones plainly subtended by 

 scales (sporophylls! ; the staminate scales usually 

 boiiring 2-t), rarely more, anthers on the under .side; 

 the pistillate bearing 1-2, rarely many, ovules on the 

 upper side, or peltate and ovule-bearing under the 

 crown or at its base; ovules with 1 integimient: fruit 



5. T.^XACK-t: 1. Taxus, a, male cone; 6, fruit (seed and aril). 

 PlN.\CE.E; 2. Tsuga, female cone. 3. Picea, female cone-scale with 

 ovules. 4. P.^udotsuga, female cone. 5. ChamEecyparis, female 

 cone. 6. Sequoia, female cone. 7. Juniperus, a, female cones 

 (berries); b, cross-section berry. Gnet,\ce.«: 8. Ephedra, a, 

 female inflorescence; 6, male inflorescence. 



a dry woody cone with dry, often winged seeds between 

 the scales; or berry-like through the union of the fleshy 

 cone-scales. 



Sub-family 1. Cupressinea. — Cone-scales opposite; 

 ovul(« erect : leaves opposite or whorled. 



Sub-family 2. Abietinea;.— Cone-scales alternate; 

 ovules inverted: leaves alternate. 



There are 2o genera and about 240 species, widely 

 distributed but most abundant in temperate regions. 

 The largest genus is Pinus with 70 species. The family 

 Li related to the Taxacea; and Ginkgoace:e, from which 

 it differs in the presence of true .staminate and pist illate 

 cones. It also differs from the latter in the absence of 

 motile sperm-cells. 



The Pinaeea-, like other Gymnosperras, is an old 

 group, more abundant in former geologic ages. Many 

 fossil species are known. The Sequoias of California 

 were formr'rly more abundant, extending to Ori'enlarid. 

 The young plants of many Cupressinea^ possess foliage 



quite different in appearance from the matin-e foliage, 

 the leaves being longer and more spreading. These 

 juvenile forms have been called Hetinis|)oras, a, name 

 which ha.s been applied also to all cultivated species of 

 Chaniivcyparis. Juniper "berries" are fleshy cones 

 with peltate, fused scales. The leaves of Larix, Pseu- 

 dolarix and (Vdrus are deciduous. The branchlets and 

 leaves are deciduous in Taxodium. The cone-scales 

 of many Abietineic are double, an outer thinner 3- 

 t.oothed scale, and a thick inner scale that bears the 

 ovules (sec I'si'udotstigd). 



.\mong the PinaceiT' are some of our most valuable 

 timber trees; e. g., cedar, arborvita>, spruce, fir, hem- 

 lo('k and redwood. The resin from various pines when 

 distilled yields spirits of turpentine and rosin; when 

 dry-distilled, it yields tar. Venice turiientine is the 

 resinous exudation of European larches: Canada 

 balsam that of Abies balsaiyiea. Dammar resin is from 

 the Malayan Agathis Dammara. Kauri resin is the 

 semi-fossiiized resin of Agathis austraiis of Australia 

 and New Zealand. Sandarac resin is from Callitris 

 quadrivalvis of Northwest Africa. Amber is the fos- 

 silized resin of prehistoric conifers around the Baltic. 

 Oil of savin is from the leaves and twigs of Juniperus 

 sahinii, and oil of cedar from Th uya occidenlalis. Juniper 

 berries, from J. communis of Europe and America, are 

 diuretic and also used for flavoring gin. Edible seeds 

 are produced by Pinus Pinea (stone pine) of the 

 Mediterranean, P. Cembra of Europe and Siberia, P. 

 Parryana and P. edulis of the southwestern United 

 States, Podocarpus neriifolia of the East Indies, Armi- 

 carin brnziliana of Brazil, and A. Bidwillii of Australia. 

 Bread is made by the Laps and Eskimos from the 

 inner bark of Pinus sylvesiris and Abies <dba; also from 

 various Pinaeea; by our northwestern Indians. Deodar 

 {Cedrus Dcodara) is sacred to the Hindoos. Cedrus 

 Libani is the cedar of Lebanon. Pine bark was form- 

 erly used for tanning. 



Many genera are in cultivation in America. Among 

 these are: Abies (Fir, Balsam); Araucaria (Norfolk 

 Island Pine, Monkey Puzzle); Callitris (Cypress Pine); 

 Cedrus (Cedar of Lebanon, Deodar); Chamsecyparis 

 (White Cedar, Yellow Cedar, Hinoki Cypress, Sawara 

 Cypress, Retinispora, Japanese Cedar); Cryptomeria; 

 Ciipressus (Cypress, Monterey Cypress); Juniperus 

 (Red Cedar, Juniper, Savin); Larix (inarch, Tamarack, 

 Hackmatack); Libocedrus (Incense Cedar, White Ce- 

 dar); Picea (Spruce); Pinus (Pine, Pinnon, Soledad); 

 Pseudolarix (Golden Larch); Pseudotsuga (Douglas 

 Spruce, Red Fir); Sciadopitys (Umbrella Pine); Se- 

 quoia (Big Tree of CaUfornia, Redwood); Taxodium 

 (Bald Cypress, Deciduous Cypress) ; Thuya (Arborvi- 

 tae, White Cedar) ; Thuyopsis; Tsuga (Hemlock Spruce). 



Order 11. Gnetales 



19. Gnetacese (from the genus Gnelum, derived from 

 Gnemon, said to be the old Malay name of the plant). 

 GNKTtiM Family. B'ig. 5. Very peculiar semi-woody 

 plants of diverse habit: leaves large and broad, or modi- 

 fied, or reduced, or opposite, or whorled: no resin-tubes 

 in the stem; secondary wood containing true vessels: 

 true flowers present, with a 2-4-parted perianth, 

 uni.sexual, rarely bisexual; stamens 2-<S; pistillate 

 perianth becoming juicy or wing-like in fruit and inclos- 

 ing one naked orthotropous seed with 1 or 2 integu- 

 ments. 



The family consists of 3 genera and about 3.')-40 

 species, widely distributed. It is distinguished from 

 the Conifera' by the presence of a perianth, the absence 

 of resin-tubes," and the presence of vessels in the 

 secondary wood. The endosperm development, also, 

 ar)proaches that of the Angiosperms. The fertilization 

 is by means of pollen-tubes. The three genera are 

 very distinct: I'.phedra, of the tropics of both hemis- 

 pheres, is much branched, with .slender jointed striate 



