CHRISTMAS TREES 331 



(Juniperus communis), the gtnevrier of the French, grows 

 abundantly on the chalk downs of the South of England, 

 where it appears as a small bush, not exceeding 5 feet in 

 height, but in favourable conditions reaches a height of 

 20 feet. The cones of the juniper are numerous, and 

 each consists of only three ovuliferous scales, and is only 

 one-fifth of an inch in diameter when ripe, and of a 

 blackish violet colour. 



At the close of this compressed survey of the order 

 Coniferae, let me put the chief forms and groups at which 

 we have looked in a tabular form, thus : 



Order CONIFERS: 



FAMILY i. ABIETIN^. 

 SECTION A. SAPINE^E (SPRUCES AND SILVER FIRS). 



Genus i. Picea. 2. Tsuga. 3. Pseudotsuga. 4. Abies. 

 SECTION B. LARICE^E (LARCHES AND CEDARS). 



Genus i. Larix. 2. Cedrus. 

 SECTION C. PINE^E. 



Genus unic. Pinus. 



FAMILY 2. ARAUCARIANyE. 



Genus i. Araucaria. 2. Agathis. 2. Cunninghamia. 



FAMILY 3. TAXODIN^:. 



Genus i. Sequoia. 2 Taxodium. 3. Sciadopitys, etc. 



FAMILY 4. CUPRESSIN^:. 



Genus i Cupressus. 2. Thuya. 3. Juniperus, etc. 



