PINACEiE— PINE FAMILY 



PINES. CONIFERS 



PinhceiE. Coniferce. 



The Cone Bearers form an extremely interesting natural 

 group of tre-3s. They were so named originally, because of 

 their fruit of which the pine cone is a typical example. 

 They are commonly known as. Evergreens because with the 

 exception of the Larch and the Bald Cypress their leaves 

 remain upon the branches over the winter. These, how- 

 ever, are but outward and visible signs of an inward and 

 structural difference which removes the Pines far away 

 from their companions in the forests of to-day. Without 

 going into technical details, two general principles may be" 

 noted. In the first place, every plant is rated in the natural 

 system according to the simplicity or complexity of its floral 

 organs, and by its antiquity as indicated in the geological 

 record. 



Now the Pines are a survival from the devonian age. 

 They were contemporaries of the Lycopods, the Sigillards 

 and the Cycads, whose remains constitute our coal measures 

 to-day. They are the oldest living representatives of the 

 forests of the ancient world, and they retain the simplicity 

 of floral structure which marked the vegetation of those 

 early times. In the flower of a conifer there is no ovary; 

 the ovule lies naked upon the surface of a scale. There are 

 no stigmas, no insect is needed to aid in the fertilization, 

 the fate of the Pines depends upon the wind. The scientists 

 calmly assign the Coniferce to a place, with the Club-mosses 

 on one side and the Cat-tails on the other. This arrangement 

 fairly takes the breath of a layman or an amateur but it is 

 unassailable, they belong there. 



439 



