688 CXIII. GNETACE.E [Gnetum 



B. Ovary and fruit stalked. Climbers. 



3. G. scandens, Roxb. — Syn. G. edule, Blurne; G. funiculare, Wight 

 Ic. t. 1955. Vern. Kumbal, Umbli, Bombay ; Milgandi, Kol ; Gyut-nwe, 

 Burm. 



An immense dioecious evergreen climber, trunk often flattened, 9-12 in. 

 broad, branches dichotomous. L. elliptic, blade 3-9, pet. J-| in. long, reticulate 

 veins lax, thin. Spikes in stiff panicles, often on the old wood. A single 

 whorl of (imperfect ?) $ above a double whorl of $ fl., surrounded by a mass of 

 transparent hairs. Fr. covered with silvery scales when young, orange- 

 coloured, edible when ripe, 1J in., stalk thick, \ in. long. 



"Western Ghats in evergreen forest, from the Konkan southwards, ascending to 

 7,000 ft. Hills of the Northern Circars. Sikkim, ascending to 3,000 ft. Assam. Khasi 

 hills. Chittagong. Burma, Upper and Lower. Andamans. common. — Not in Ceylon. 

 Malay Penins. and Archip. China. 4. G. macropodum, Kurz. Nicobars. Closely 

 allied to 3, differs by fruit-stalk J— 14 in. long. 5. G. funiculare, Blume. Chittagong. 

 Lower Burma. A large climber, stem as thick as the arm. L. elliptic, rigidly 

 coriaceous, reticulate veins close, prominent. Fr. glabrous, stalk slender, J— 4. in. long. 



Order CXIV. CONIFERS. Gen. PI. iii. 420. 



Trees, sometimes shrubs, usually resinous, monoecious or dioecious. Leaves 

 rigid, linear, subulate or scale-like, rarely with a broad blade. El. without 

 perianth, $ (catkins) consisting of more or less numerous antheriferous scales 

 (stamens) bearing 2 or more anther-cells on the back (underside). 5 (cones) 

 consisting of ovuliferous scales (open carpels, often with a second or supporting 

 scale), either numerous, spirally or decussately arranged around the axis and at 

 maturity concealing the seeds (perfect cones), or few (up to 20 in Cephalotaxus) 

 not concealing the seeds (imperfect cones). In the case of most species a 

 considerable time (sometimes more than a year) intervenes between the 

 shedding of the pollen and fertilization of the ovule. Endosperm fleshy and 

 oily (in Araucaria farinaceous), cotyledons 2 or numerous. 



The trunk of Coniferous trees shows the same general arrangement of tissues, 

 which we find in normal Dicotvledons, but the wood is without vessels, hence on a 

 transverse section without pores. It consists of medullary rays and of long thick- 

 walled tracheides, arranged in radial lines, with large bordered pits, usually on their 

 radial walls only. In the earliest formed wood, contiguous to the pith, the tracheides 

 have a spiral or annular thickening of their walls. The annual rings are distinctly 

 marked by belts of very thick-walled tracheides in the outer (autumn) wood and of 

 thinner-walled tracheides in the spring wood of the succeeding year. Kesin canals, 

 lined by small thin-walled secreting cells (as in Dipterocarps) are found in the leaves, 

 the hark and the wood, in the wood they are vertical among the tracheides, and hori- 

 zontal in the medullary rays. 



I. Seeds concealed by the scales of a perfect cone. 



A. Ovules reversed, scales of cone numerous, spirally arranged round the axis. 

 Pollen-grains winged, excepting Larix and Tsuga. 



(a) L. persistent, in clusters of 2, 3, or 5, scales of 



cone more or less thickened at the apex . . 1. Pinus. 



(b) L. persistent, in large tufts at the ends of 



arrested branchlets, scales of cone broad with 



a thin edge, deciduous 2. Cedrus. 



(c) L. persistent, single. 



a. Cones cylindric, erect, scales deciduous, 



1. flat, more or less distichous . . .3. Abies. 



(3. Cones cylindric, pendulous, scales persis- 

 tent, 1. 4-sided, all round the branchlets . 4. Picea. 



y. Cones ovoid, small, scales persistent. 1. flat, 



distichous Tsuga (p. 693). 



(d) L. deciduous in large tufts at the ends of 



arrested branchlets Lakix (p. 693). 



