PINACEE—PINE FAMILY 
PINES. CONIFERS 
Pinaceae. Contfere. 
The Cone Bearers form an extremely interesting natural 
group of trezs. 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 Conifere 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 1s 
unassailable, they belong there. 
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