314 DIVERSIONS OF A NATURALIST 



monkey puzzle, the Taxodinae round the Wellington ia, 

 and the Cupressinae round the juniper. In all but the 

 last family the ovule-bearing scales of the female cone 

 are arranged spiral-wise around a central supporting 

 stem ; in Cupressinae they are few in number, very 

 thick, and opposite to one another so as to form a 

 globular rather than a cone-shaped body. In all but a 

 few Cupressinae and Araucarianae the male and female 

 cones are carried on the same tree, sometimes on 



FIG. 33. A thin slice across one of the foliage 

 needles of the Common Spruce. Highly 

 magnified, r, The single resin'canal ; /, the 

 mid-rib, with a single bundle of fibres and 

 vessels cut across. (From Veitch.) 



separate branches, but usually on the same branch. 

 The male and female cones are always distinct, and the 

 female much the larger and more enduring. 



The Abietinae are divided into three tribes (a) the 

 spruces and silver firs (this group corresponding to 

 the French Sapins\ (b) the larches and cedars, (c) the 

 Scots firs {Pins of the French). Let us take first 

 the group of spruces and silver firs. The Norwegian 

 spruce is the type of the genus Picea. It is called 

 Pesse by the French, Fichte by the Germans, and 



