CHAPTER II 



THE SCOTS PINE (Pinus sylvestris) 



ALL the plants which have been described in the preceding 

 chapters belong to the great group of the Angiosperms, the flower- 

 ing plants in the narrower sense of the word. The Pine and its 

 relatives also bear flowers, but they differ in some very important 

 respects from the flowers we have as yet studied. The Pines, 

 Firs, Monkey-Puzzles, Cypresses, Yews, and a number of other 

 plants belong to the group of the Gymnosperms, the second 

 great group into which the vegetable kingdom is divided. This 

 group, as compared with the Angiosperms, is represented by com- 

 paratively few genera and species at the present time. It is, 

 however, the more ancient family of plants, and at a period in 

 the earth's history a little before the chalk was deposited the 

 bulk of the vegetation was composed of plants belonging to this 

 group. The name Gymnosperm leads us to consider one great 

 point of difference from the plants hitherto studied. It is derived 

 from two Greek words, and means " naked-seeded." The 

 ovules, and of course the seeds developed from them, are not 

 enclosed in an ovary, as in the Angiosperms, but borne on the 

 surface of certain leaves which do not compose a pistil. All the 

 plants of the group are trees or shrubs, and in their general con- 

 struction they resemble the trees we have just considered. They 

 differ, however, in features of minute structure into which we 

 need not enter. 



There are only three Gymnosperms which are native British 

 plants. These are the Pine, the Yew, and the Juniper. Many 

 others, from all temperate parts of the world, are often planted 

 as ornamental trees or shrubs. With these few remarks to explain 

 why the Pine is treated apart from the other Flowering Plants, we 



may proceed to describe it as another example for detailed study. 



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