PART \T[II 

 THE CONE-BEARING EVERGREENS 



The Pines — The Spruces — The Firs — The Douglas 

 Spruce — The Hemlocks — The Sequoias — The 

 Abror-vit^s — The Incense Cedar — The Cypresses 

 — The Junipers — Tpie Larches, or Tamaracks 



The cone-bearers, or conifers, are a distinct race that we 

 commonly call evergreens. They include pines, hemlocks, 

 spruces, firs, sequoias, cypresses, cedars, and junipers. Be- 

 sides these, the tamaracks and the bald cypress must be 

 included, although their leaves are shed in the autumn. 

 The term "evergreen" applies equally well to magnohas, 

 laurels, and many oaks. Birches and alders and magno- 

 lias bear cone-like fruits. Notwithstanding such excep- 

 tions, the cone-bearing trees are mostly evergreen, and 

 their family traits are so strongly marked that even the be- 

 ginner in tree study eliminates the exceptional instances 

 early in his studies. 



The pines and their relatives in the coniferous group are 

 an ancient race, composed of proud old "first families." 

 Along the shores of the Silurian seas they stood up, straight 

 and tall, their only companions that stood erect, the giant 

 horse-tails and tree ferns. This was long before modern 

 tree families had any existence. There were no broad- 



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