Fig. 62. Fig. 63. Fig. 64.
Fig. 61. Araucaria excelsa, called also Altingia or Eutassa or Eutacta excelsa, Norfolk Island Pine.
Fig. 62. Woody tubes of fir, with single rows of discs.
Fig. 63. Woody tubes of fir, with double rows of discs, which are opposite to each other.
Fig. 64. Woody tubes of Araucaria excelsa, with double and triple rows of discs, which are alternate.
Fig. 65. Longitudinal section of the stem of a Gymnosperm, showing tubes of wood marked with punctations in one or more rows, and a medullary ray composed of cells running across the pleurenchyma.
Fig. 66. Fig. 68. Fig. 69.
Fig. 66. Linear leaves of Pinus Strobus, Weymouth Pine, in a cluster of five, with scaly sheath at the base.
Fig. 67. Cone of Pinus sylvestris, Scotch Fir.
Fig. 68. Cone of Cupressus sempervirens, common Cypress.
Fig. 69. Scale, s, of mature cone of Pinus sylvestris, with two naked winged seeds, m m, at its base; ch marks the chalaza, m the micropyle.
The Coniferæ of the present day are distinguished as resinous trees or shrubs with punctated woody tissue (Figs. 62, 63, 64, 65), linear acerose or lanceolate parallel-veined leaves, sometimes clustered, and having a membranous sheath at the base (Fig. 66). Male flowers in deciduous catkins; female flowers in cones (Figs. 67, 68). The seeds are considered by most botanists as being naked, i.e. not contained in a true pistil (Fig. 69). Some of the conifers have a succulent cone, as the juniper (Fig. 70), and the yew (Figs. 71-73) has a succulent mass covering a single naked seed (Fig. 73). The yew also has its pleurenchyma marked both with punctations and spiral fibres. The arrangement of the punctations in the Coniferæ gives characters which enable us to classify the woods into groups that have some relation to the genera established from the reproductive organs (see [Figs. 62-65)].
Fig. 70. Fig. 71. Fig. 73.
Fig. 70. Fruiting branch of Juniperus communis, common Juniper, with linear acerose leaves and succulent cones.
Fig. 71. Branch of Taxus baccata, common Yew.
Fig. 72. Male flower of Yew, with bracts at the base.
Fig. 73. Fruit of Yew, consisting of a single naked seed partially covered by a succulent receptacle.