GYMNOSPERMS (CONE BEARERS) 



TAXACEAE (Yew Family) 



Shrubs or trees ; not resin-bearing, evergreen. Leaves linear, 

 alternate, short-petioled, flat, blue-green, rather sharply pointed. 

 Cones or flower-bunches very small. Stamina te cones of a few 

 scaly bracts. Fruit a fleshy ring almost covering the one hard seed, 

 becoming a red berry. W. C. — (Gk. toxon = bow ; referring to the use 



01 tiie wood.) Taius brevifolia (western yew) 



PINACEAE (Pine Family) 



Shrubs or trees ; resinous, mostly evergreen. Leaves either needles 

 or scales. Ovules and pollen sacs in separate cones. Staminate 

 cones consisting of 4 to many scales. Pistillate cones consisting either 

 of scales only, or of scales and bracts, usually dry and woody, sometimes 

 a bluish berry. Scales bearing i to several ovules (usually 2) on the 

 inner surface, woody or papery or fleshy. 



A. Leaves opposite or in whorls of 3, not sheathed when in 3's, scalelike (except 

 sometimes in Juniperus); cone scales 12 or fewer, decussate. 

 B. Fruit, a bluish berry; leaves often awl-shaped, often scalelike, often both 

 forms on the same plant. JUNIPERUS (p. 30) 



BB. Fruit a dry woody cone; leaves all scalelike. 

 C. Leaves 4 in a whorl; cone scales of 3 quite unlike pairs; seeds unequally 

 2-winged. U. C. — A fine lumber tree. (Gk. leibo^ = to pour out, kedros = 

 the Cedar; probably on account of the strong cedar-like odor.) 



Libocedrus decurrens (incense cedar) 



CC. Leaves opposite; conf scales alike or nearly so; seeds equally 2-winged. 



D. Pistillate cones globose, their scales peltate; staminate cones oblong, their 



scales ovate and not peltate. CHAMAECYPARIS (p. 30) 



DD. Pistillate cones oblong, their scales not peltate; staminate cones globose, 



their scales peltate. W. C. E. — Our best tree for shingles. (Gk. thuia = 



the name of a similar tree.) Thuja plicata (giant cedar) 



AA. Leaves alternate or in bunches of 2 to many, sheathed at the base if in 2-5- 



leaved bunches, linear, not scalelike (except sometimes in Sequoia) ; cone scales 



more than 12. 



E. Leaves of 2 forms; one form lanceolate, flat, 6-13 mm. long; the other form 



ovate or ovate-oblong, keeled, 5-7 mm. long; seeds 5-7 under each scale. U. — 



A fine lumber tree. (Honor of Sequoyah, the Indian name of George Guess, who 



invented the Cherokee alphabet.) Sequoia semperrirens (redwood) 



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