Conifers & Other Gymnosperms
Conifer, any member of the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, order Pinales, made up of living and fossil gymnospermous plants that usually have needle-shaped evergreen leaves and seeds attached to the scales of a woody bracted cone. Among living gymnosperm divisions, the conifers show little similarity to the Cycadophyta and Gnetophyta but share several vegetative and reproductive traits with the Ginkgophyta. Conifers are most abundant in cool temperate and boreal regions, where they are important timber trees and ornamentals, but they are most diverse in warmer areas, including tropical mountains.
Conifers & Other Gymnosperms Encyclopedia Articles
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cedar
Cedar, any of four species of ornamental and timber evergreen conifers of the genus Cedrus (family Pinaceae), three native to mountainous areas of the Mediterranean region and one to the western Himalayas....
pine
Pine, (genus Pinus), genus of about 115 species of evergreen conifers of the pine family (Pinaceae), distributed throughout the world but native primarily to northern temperate regions. Pines and other...
cypress
Cypress, any of 12 species of ornamental and timber evergreen conifers constituting the genus Cupressus of the family Cupressaceae, distributed throughout warm-temperate and subtropical regions of Asia,...
juniper
Juniper, (genus Juniperus), genus of about 60 to 70 species of aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. A number of species...
seed fern
Seed fern, loose confederation of seed plants from the Carboniferous and Permian periods (about 360 to 250 million years ago). Some, such as Medullosa, grew as upright, unbranched woody trunks topped with...
yew
Yew, any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus (family Taxaceae), approximately eight species of ornamental evergreens, distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Other trees called yew but not in this...
gymnosperm
Gymnosperm, any vascular plant that reproduces by means of an exposed seed, or ovule—unlike angiosperms, or flowering plants, whose seeds are enclosed by mature ovaries, or fruits. The seeds of many gymnosperms...
conifer
Conifer, any member of the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, order Pinales, made up of living and fossil gymnospermous plants that usually have needle-shaped evergreen leaves and seeds attached to the...