232 



CONIFERS. 



PlNUS. 



**** Larix, Tourn. Sterile aments bud-like, scattered over the branches. Cells of the anthers opening longitudinally. 

 Cones roundish or ovoid-conical, erect. Bracts {colored) and scales persistent. Leaves annual, linear, slender, 

 fasciculate and diverging, produced from globose buds. 



9. Pinus pendula, Ait. Tamarack. American Larch. 



Leaves fascicled, deciduous, short ; cones ovoid-roundish, consisting of few nearly orbicular 

 thin scales ; bracts broadly ovate. — Ait. Kew. (ed. 1.) 3. p. 369 ; Lamb. Pin. t. 49 ; Pursh, 

 fl. 2. p. 645 ; Beck, hot. p. 339 ; Hook. fl. Bor.~Am. 2. p. 164. P. microcarpa, Lamb. I. 

 c. t. 50 ; Pursh, I. c. ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 360 ; Hook. I. c. Larix Americana, Michx. fl. 

 2. p. 203 ; Michx. f. sylv. 2. t. 153 ; Audub. birds of Amer. t. 4 ; Loud. enc. tr. <§■ shr. 

 p. 1056. 



A tall straight tree (50 - 80 feet or more in height and 1-3 feet in diameter), with 

 smooth bark and horizontal branches. Leaves soft and flexible, growing in numerous tufts 

 which are scattered along the sides of the branches. Aments yellow or reddish ; the sterile 

 small, oblong. Cones about half an inch long, green or violet-colored when young, brownish 

 when old. Scales about 20, loosely imbricated, somewhat woody, flattish, entire. Bracts 

 less than half the length of the scale, usually emarginate, with a short straight mucro. 



Swamps : abundant in the northern counties, and some parts of western New-York, as 

 between Utica and Syracuse. Fl. May. The wood is strong and durable, but is very heavy. 

 It is chiefly employed in ship-building. Many European botanists consider P. pendula and 

 P. microcarpa as distinct species, but they seem to be mere varieties, caused by differences 

 of soil and exposure. 



Suborder II. CUPRESSINiE. L. C. Rich. The Cypress Tribe. 



Aments monoecious or dioecious, imbricated, without bracts, few - flowered. 

 Anthers with 4—12 cells; the connective peltate, or attached at the base. 

 Ovules 1 - 2 or more, at the base of the carpellary scales, erect. Cones 

 indurated, or the scales concreted and fleshy. Integument of the seed bony 

 or membranous. — Leaves mostly evergreen. 



2. CUPRESSUS. Tourn.; Endl. gen. 1791. CYPRESS. 

 [From the Island of Cyprus, where one species of the tree is abundant.] 



Sterile aments solitary. Anthers 2-4 celled. Fertile aments subglobose, with peltate 

 scales. Ovules 8 or more, bottle-shaped. Cones globose ; the scales ligneous, protuberant 



