GYMNOSPERM.E. 



15 



of which the pollen is contained (figs. 1 and 2). The name is derived from the cone or 

 strobilus on which the great proportion of them produce their seeds (fig. 3). This 

 is a fruit-spike, more or less elongated, and covered with scales or bracts, formed of 

 metamorphosed leaves or branchlets ; each scale has usually two seeds at its base, which 

 are enveloped in a hard coriaceous integument, and often winged (fig. 4). The scales are 

 sometimes united, as in the Cypress, and form a rounded mass, or become fleshy, as in 

 the Juniper, where they unite to form a globular fruit or berry. In the Taxe^ and 



Fig. 1. — Male or Anthfir-bearing Catkin of Spruce 

 Fir. Natural size.' 



Fig. 2. — Female or Ovule-bearing Catkin of Spruce 

 Fir. Natural size. 



^iW^^ 



Fig. 3. — Longitudinal section of a cone of the Stone 

 Pine (Pinus pinea), showing the relative position 

 of the axis, scales, and seed. Two-thirds natural 



Fig. 4. — Scale of Pinus pinea, natural size. 1. Inner 

 side with seeds. 2. Outer side, showing the swollen 

 terminal portion called the apophysis, with its 

 central protuberance. 



Podocarpeae the fruit is solitary and terminal, the external succulent covering being 

 formed of modified bracts surrounding a naked seed. They are mostly trees or shrubs, 

 with branched, resinous trunks, and abound in the temperate regions of both hemi- 

 spheres. 



Although they no longer play the chief part in forest vegetation, the Coniferee still 

 form a conspicuous feature in the physical geography of the earth. The needle-leaved 

 Pines, Firs, Cedars, and Larches form enormous forests in the Northern Hemisphere ; 



Figures 1 to 4 are from Veitch's ' Manual of the Coniferse.' 



