Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. ) 
January,  1896.  j 
North  American  Conifer  a. 
25 
In  all,  seventy- seven  species  are  known.  These  are  grouped  into 
two  sub-genera,  that  of  Strobus,  or  soft-wood  pines,  and  that  of 
Pinaster,  the  hard- wood  or  pitch  pines. 
In  the  sub-genus  Strobus  the  leaves  are  usually  in  fascicles  of  five, 
the  sheaths  are  loose  and  deciduous,  with  an  apophysis  that  is  thin 
and  with  the  umbo  at  its  upper  end  devoid  of  a  spine.  Resin  ducts 
in  both  wood  and  bark,  but  the  resin  less  abundant  than  in  the 
members  of  the  other  sub-genus.  Here  belong  P.  Strobus  (our 
white  pine),  P.  excelsa  (Himalayan),  P.  Cembra  (stone  pine  of  east- 
ern Europe  and  northern  Asia),  P,  parviflora,  of  Japan,  and  P. 
Lambertiana,  P.  monticola,  P.  flexilis  and  P.  albicaulis,  all  West 
American  species. 
In  the  sub-genus  Pinaster  the  leaves  are  mostly  in  twos  or  threes, 
but  sometimes  in  fives,  the  apophysis  is  thickened  and  bears  a  dorsal 
ridge,  and  the  umbo  is  usually  terminated  by  a  spine  or  prickle, 
the  sheaths  also  are  more  persistent.  The  wood  is  harder,  darker 
colored  and  more  resinous. 
Examples  are :  P.  sylvestris  (Scotch  pine),  P.  Pinaster,  P.  Laricio, 
P.  Montana,  P.  Pinea — all  European ;  P.  Taeda,  P.  Banksiana,  P. 
pungens,  P.  inops,  P.  rigida,  P.  mitis,  P.  resinosa  and  P.  palustris,  of 
the  Eastern  United  States ;  and  P.  Balfouriana,  P.  aristata,  P.  mono- 
phylla,  P.  edulis,  P.  Parryana,  P.  cembroides,  P.  contorta,  P.  Murray- 
ana,  P.  ponderosa,  P.  Jeffreyi,  P.  latifolia,  P.  Apacheca,  P.  Torreyana, 
P.  Coulteri,  P.  Sabiniana,  P.  radiata,  P.  attenuata,  P.  muricata  and 
P.  Chihuahuana — all  West  American  species. 
Family  3. — The  TaxodinicB,  the  Taxodiads. — Trees  of  large  size; 
monoecious ;  leaves  scale-like  or  linear,  arranged  in  spirals ;  micro- 
sporophylls  bearing  from  two  to  eight  sporangia  ;  possessing  pla- 
cental as  well  as  macrosporophyll  scales ;  cones  globular  or  oblong, 
woody,  maturing  in  one  season. 
There  are  several  genera,  including  the  Sequoia,  of  California ; 
Sciadopitys  and  Cryptomeria,  of  Japan  ;  Cunninghamia.of  China,  and 
Arthrotaxis,  of  Tasmania — all  of  which  are  evergreens ;  and  Taxo- 
dium  (including  the  bald  cypress  of  the  Southern  States)  and  Glyp- 
tostrobus,  native  to  southern  China — both  of  which  are  deciduous 
leaved. 
Family  4 — The  Cupressinece,  the  Cypresses. — Wood  more  or 
less  pungently  aromatic;  leaves  small  and  scale-like  or  awl-shaped, 
always  in  whorls,  the  leaves  and  cone  scales  either  opposite  or  in 
