4 BULLETIN 20T, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



"balsam trees" (Abies), "bald," or deciduous-leafed cypress (Taxo- 

 dium), arborvitaes or "cedars" (Thuja), and redwood and bigtree 

 (Sequoia). All of these trees except the junipers bear a fruit 

 which is a distinctly woody cone, with from two to several naked 

 seeds under each of its overlapping or otherwise closely joined scales. 

 The junipers, however, produce a berrylike fruit, which, though not 

 woody, is, nevertheless, morphologically a cone, the external resem- 

 blance to a berry being due to the joining of its fleshy cone scales. The 

 seeds of most conifers have a thin wing, which helps them greatly 

 to be scattered by the wind far from the parent trees, thus providing 

 for their rapid reproduction over a wide area. On the other hand, 

 seeds of some conifers have no wings or merely rudimentary ones, 

 which do not materially aid in distributing the seeds, this being 

 accomplished through the agency of flood waters and animals. 

 Junipers are examples of this class, their wingless seeds and the berry- 

 like fruits containing them being largely dependent for their distribu- 

 tion upon birds, which eat them for the fleshy outside pulp, 1 and 

 upon flood ^waters, which carry them away from the parent trees. 



The leaves of some conifers are scalelike and very small, as in the 

 case of leaves that clothe the twigs of junipers, cedars, and cypresses, 

 while the leaves of all other conifers are needlelike and long, as in the 

 case of the leaves that clothe the twigs and branches of pines, spruces, 

 etc. Of our conifers, all but the bald cypress (Taxodium) and 

 larches (Larix) have leaves that remain green and adhere to the 

 trees for several years, a feature which has given them the popular 

 name of " evergreens." The number of seed-leaves 2 (cotyledons) 

 produced by conifers varies from 2 to about 18. 



GENERIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CYPRESSES. 



The term " cypress" is popularly applied to three distinct generic 

 groups of North American trees: Taxodium, of the southeastern 

 States ; Chamsecyparis, represented in the South Atlantic and Pacific 

 coast forests; and Cupressus, of which native species are found in the 

 southern Rocky Mountain and Pacific coast regions. Strictly 

 speaking, the name cypress should be applied only to the trees of the 

 genera Chamsecyparis and Cupressus, both of which are closely 

 related. Species of Cupressus differ from those of Chamaecyparis in 

 having quadrangular twigs instead of flat ones, and sprays arranged not 

 in one plane but irregularly (Pis. II and V) . 3 The overlapping, minute, 

 scalelike leaves of the trees of both groups are arranged in alternately 

 opposite pairs, but those of Cupressus are minutely toothed on their 



i The hard seeds of the junipers lose none of their germinative vitality by passing through the digestive 

 organs of birds. 



2 Seed-leaves are the first foliar organs appearing above ground when the seeds germinate. 



3 Compare these with figures 65, 66, and 67 in " Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope." 



