(5) 



Cypress. They are characterized, as a whole, by having needle- 

 like or scaly leaves. There are other totally different evergreen 

 plants, such as the Rhododendrons and Live Oaks whose leaves 

 are broad and blade-like. Furthermore, the evergreens under con- 

 sideration here are commonly known as conifers, for their fruit is 

 a cone, which harbors the seeds. Coniferous evergreens, then, 

 are, in general, the trees we shall consider. 



But just as some evergreens are not conifers, so, some conifers 

 are not evergreens. We shall meet three different kinds of cone- 

 bearing trees which lose their leaves in autumn, the Bald-Cypress, 

 Larch, and Golden Larch. And we shall see a tree which has 

 broad leaves that are not evergreen and which does not bear its 

 seeds in cones, the Ginkgo. 



What, then, is the feature that justifies considering all these 

 trees as a group ? It is this. They all have true seeds and so have 

 long been known by botanists as Spermatophytes or Seed-bearing 

 Plants. Ferns, Mosses, Fungi, and Algae have no "seeds." But 

 apple trees, peas, and pansies, among thousands of other plants, 

 also have seeds, but we do not consider them here. The difference 

 is that among approximately three hundred thousand different 

 kinds of known seed-bearing plants all but about five hundred have 

 their seeds imbedded in a pulp, capsule, or other container. The 

 apple seed, for example, is inside the apple and a pea grows within 

 a pod. All such plants are known as Angiosperms. The remain- 

 ing five hundred do not, as a rule, have their seeds enclosed and 

 these are known as Gymnosperms. The pine seed, for example, 

 grows at the base of a cone scale, but is not enclosed in anything 

 when ripe. This is the group to which all the plants described in 

 this Guide belong. 



The cone-bearing trees, which constitute almost all the Gymno- 

 sperms, are widely distributed throughout the world. Many are 

 essentially tropical or so dependent upon local conditions that they 

 cannot be grown outdoors here. The conifers of the north tem- 

 perate zone, particularly the pines and spruces, supply the bulk of 

 the world's lumber. In this country alone two-thirds of the 

 lumber production is coniferous, or "soft-wood," as the trade 

 refers to these trees. 



