34 FAMILIAR TREES 



branches " ; whilst the stems are, by this charac- 

 teristic, specially fitted for use as masts or as 

 scaffold-poles. Pines and Cedars depart most from 

 this pyramidal habit of growth, their heads be- 

 coming, round and flattened as they grow old, 

 while they also throw out more or less horizontal 

 branches of considerable bulk. The bark is scaly 

 and generally thin, though here again the Pines 

 are somewhat exceptional. 



The roots spread horizontally but little below 

 the surface of the ground, from an early age. Be- 

 coming, hoWeyer, very woody and tough, they 

 affbrd more hold on the soil than their form would 

 suggest. In no case do the stumps of these trees 

 produce coppice-shoots. 



With the exception of the Larches, the 

 AbietincB are all evergreen, their leaves being' 

 needle-shaped, or, at least, very narrow. While in 

 many evergreens the leaves only remain on the 

 "tree for about thirteen months, in some of these 

 ■Conifers they persist for four, five, or even more 

 years. The buds are protected by spirally-arranged 

 scales, which in some genera exude resin, and in 

 others are protected from cold and wet by a 

 felted covering of hair. Seedling Conifers pro- 

 duce, in succession to their cotyledons, other 

 leaves known as " primordial," " protomorphic," or 

 "juvenile," which are simpler in arrangement, form, 

 and structure than those produced later. All -the 

 leaves in this group are arranged spirally, and not 

 in the decussating pairs common in the Cypress 

 tribe, and they spring generally from bracket-like 



