LIFE HISTORY OF A GYMNOSPERM 



47 



reached, giving to the crown or upper part of the tree the appearance 

 of a pyramid. These branches give rise to other branches which 

 agree with the lateral branches in bearing, commonly, only scale like 

 leaves as well as in ending in terminal buds. Another kind of 

 branch, however, is found which is always shorter than the scaly 

 branches. This type of branch is called a "spur shoot" and arises 



FIG. 21. Staminate cones of the Austrian pine (Pinus austr iaca) . Below, before 

 shedding pollen; above, after shedding. (Gagerj 



from the former branches. The spur shoots bear the needles or 

 foliage leaves which are light-green, when young, and bluish-green, 

 soft, flexible, 2% to 5 inches long, when mature. The "needles" 

 occur in tufts (fascicles) of five, are triangular in cross-section, have 

 finely serrate (saw-toothed) edges and are surrounded at the base by a 

 deciduous sheath. These foliage leaves persist until the end of their 

 second year, when they are shed with the spur shoot which bears 

 them. 



The white pine, like most of its allies among the Coniferae, bears 

 cones. These structures are of two kinds, viz. : staminate and car- 

 pellate. Both kinds are produced on the same tree. 



