CONIFERAE 
33 1 
cone as one female fir. with a number of cpls. (the ‘cover-scales’). 
The cpl. may bear the ovule directly, as in the latter cases above 
mentioned, or may develope upon its upper surface a placenta (ovulif. 
scale) which bears the ovules. Cryptomeria thus represents a stage in 
this evolution, and the whole may be compared with the division of a 
leaf into a sterile and fertile part, as in Ophioglossum. The rival 
theory of Celakovsky regards each ovule or pair of ovules with its ap- 
purtenances as a female fir. (one cpl. to each ovule) so that the cone is 
a spike of firs. A series may be thus drawn : Ginkgo ( $ fir. of two 
cpls. each with one ovule) ; Podocarpus (one cpl. , one ovule with 
two integuments, the whole in the axil of a cover-scale, which is 
therefore to be regarded as a bract), Taxus (fir. reduced to ovule, aril 
= outer integument; then in the Araucariaceae we have spikes of 
firs, (cones), the cover-scale being the bract, the ovuliferous scale the 
combined outer integuments of the ovules of two cpls. (or three, the 
keel on the middle of the scale in Pinus etc. representing the third) : 
a fusion of the bract with the fir. in its axil is supposed to have 
gone on, and we get next the Cryptomeria type, and finally that of 
Cupressineae . 
The ovules are orthotropous, except in Podocarpus. The processes 
of development of the ovule, fertilisation, &c., must be studied else- 
where (see arts. Pinus , Gymnospermae). The cone often becomes hard 
and woody as the seeds ripen, whilst in other cases it becomes fleshy. 
The seeds contain an embryo with 2 — 15 cotyledons, and rich endo- 
sperm. 
Natural History. The C. are entirely wind-fertilised; the pollen 
is light and powdery, sometimes provided with air-bladders ( e.g . 
Pinus), and is produced in enormous quantities. About the time 
it is shed the scales of the female cones open to receive it and 
the grains adhere to the sticky fluid at the apex of the ovule. Ferti- 
lisation often does not take place for a long time afterwards (see Pinus 
and Ginkgo). 
The seeds in many genera with woody cones [e.g. Pinus) are 
winged for wind-carriage; in other genera they are animal -distributed, 
e.g. Juniperus (cone fleshy), Taxus (fleshy aril), &c. 
Further details of the morphology, life histoiy, &c. will be found 
under the headings Gymnospermae , Pinus and others of the genera. 
See also art. Retinospora , where the peculiar case of plants retaining 
the ‘ seedling * form throughout life is dealt with. 
Economically the C. are a most important class, furnishing a large 
proportion of our timber, as well as resins, tars, turpentines, &c. See 
genera, especially Abies, Pinus, Larix, Tsuga, Libocedrus, Juniperus, 
Taxus, &c. 
Classification and Key to Genera (after Eichler and Engler) : 
N. O I. Araucariaceae (Pinoideae). Cones perfect; seeds 
concealed between scales ; testa woody or leathery ; no aril. 
