294 INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY 
(fig. 227, C), and the fir trees (Abies); the Southern bald 
eypress (Zaxodiun), which, with the tamarack (Larix) of the 
Northern bogs, are deciduous conifers; the Northern white 
cedar, or arbor vite (Thuja) (fig. 227, D), and the Southern 
white cedar (Chumaecypuris); the ved cedar, juniper, and 
low juniper (Juniperus) ; and the redwoods and “ big trees” 
(Sequoia) of the western part of North America (fig. 222). 
279. Products of gymnosperms. We naturally think of tim- 
ber as the chief product of gymnosperms. By far the largest 
part of our primeval forests were of coniferous trees, and these 
are still much more abundant than all other kinds of trees. 
The pines and other conifers produce over three fourths of 
the timber of the United States. The white pine (Pinus 
strobus), the long-leaf pine (Pinns palustris) (fig. 229), and 
the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) of the Southern states, the bull 
pine (Pinus ponderosa) and the sugar pine (fig. 228) of the 
Pacific coast and the Rocky Mountain region, and the very 
widely distributed spruce (Picea) are used in large quantities. 
The western Douglas fir is a timber tree of great size and 
importance; the bald cypress of the South has produced im- 
mense quantities of lumber, though the available supply is 
becoming limited; the redwoods of the Western coast are im- 
portant, but the preservation of the redwood forests is limiting 
their output, since natural-history interests of forests sometimes 
outweigh their importance as sources of lumber. 
In addition to ordinary uses for construction work, railroad 
ties, and fuel, coniferous woods have many special uses, as 
the use of red cedar in making lead pencils and moth-proof 
chests. Several species of nut-bearing pines in western North 
America and one in southern Europe bear edible seeds which 
are used as food; valuable extracts, as pine tar, rosin, and oil 
of turpentine, are obtained in this country and are derived 
chiefly from the long-leaf pine (fig. 229). 
280. Gymnosperms once more abundant. We have already 
learned that during the carboniferous age the ferns and their 
relatives were the dominant plants, but fossil remains prove 
