Am.  Tour,  Pharm.  ) 
January ,  1396.  J 
North  American  Conifer  ce. 
21 
A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  SOME 
NORTH  AMERICAN  CONIFERS.  _ 
By  Edson  S.  Bastin  and  Henry  Trimble. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
It  is  the  intention  of  the  authors  to  contribute  a  series  of  articles 
on  the  botany,  histology,  chemistry  and  economics  of  our  most  im- 
portant cone-bearers.  While  a  portion  of  the  work  will  necessarily 
be  compiled,  it  is  proposed  that  the  most  of  it  shall  be  the  results 
of  original  research.  No  attempt  will  be  made,  however,  to  exhaust 
the  subject,  but  we  hope  to  develop  and  indicate  lines  of  investiga- 
tion, to  be  followed  up  either  by  others  or  by  ourselves.  Probably 
no  large  family  of  plants  in  this  country  has  received  so  little  atten- 
tion at  the  hands  of  the  microscopist  and  chemist  as  this  one,  and  the 
authors  hope,  by  studying  one  or  more  typical  species  in  each  genus 
and  publishing  the  results,  to  be  able  to  materially  add  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  whole  order.  It  is  possible  that  a  strictly  logical  order  of 
treatment  cannot  be  followed,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  sometimes 
experienced  in  procuring  the  proper  specimens  at  the  right  time. 
In  a  few  cases,  we  have  specimens  of  coniferous  barks  from  foreign 
countries,  and  we  shall  digress  from  the  title  of  the  paper  far  enough 
to  consider  them  along  with  their  nearest  relatives  in  this  country. 
A  few  foreign  representatives,  which,  by  cultivation  for  ornamental 
purposes,  have  practically  become  naturalized  here,  will  also  be 
considered  in  their  proper  places. 
GENERAL  CHARACTERS. 
The  Coniferae  may  be  described  as  freely  branching  trees  or  shrubs, 
which  resemble  most  dicotyls  in  possessing  tap-roots,  and  in  having 
monostelic  stems  containing  radially  arranged,  open,  collateral  bun- 
dles, separated  laterally  by  medullary  rays,  and  growing  in  thickness 
by  means  of  a  closed  cambium  zone.  The  wood,  however,  differs 
from  that  of  nearly  all  dicotyls  and  other  angiosperms  in  the  absence 
of  proper  vessels,  consisting  chiefly  of  tracheids,  which  are  promi- 
nently marked  by  bordered  pits.  The  leaves  are  commonly,  though 
not  in  all  species,  evergreen  and  needle-like,  awl-shaped,  arcuate  or 
scale-like,  rigid,  simple-veined  and  without  stipules,  and  usually  also 
without  petioles.  The  flowers  are  always  destitute  of  a  proper 
perianth  and  are  very  simple  in  their  structure,  and  always  sepa- 
rated into  staminate  or  microsporangiate  and  pistillate  or  macro- 
sporangiate  kinds.    The  two  kinds  are  usually  borne  on  the  same 
