Pine Family. Conifers. Resinous trees or shrubs, mostly with evergreen narrow entire or scale-like leaves, the wood uniform in texture, without tracheae, the tracheids marked by large depressed disks, the pollen-sacs and ovules borne in separate spikes (aments). Perianth none. Stamens several together, subtended by a scale; filaments more or less united; pollen-sacs (anthers) 2-several-celled, variously dehiscent; pollen-grains often provided with two lateral inflated sacs. Ovules with two integuments, orthotropous or amphitropous, borne solitary or several together on the surface of a scale, which is subtended by a bract in most genera. Fruit a cone with numerous, several or few, woody, papery or fleshy scales; sometimes berrylike. Seeds wingless or winged. Endosperm fleshy or starchy, copious. Embryo straight, slender. Cotyledons 2 or several.

About 25 genera and 240 species of wide distribution, most abundant in temperate regions.

Scales of the cone numerous (except in Larix); leaf-buds scaly.

Cone-scales woody; leaves needle-shaped, 2-5 in a sheath.

1.

Pinus.

Cone-scales thin; leaves linear-filiform, scattered or fascicled, not in sheaths.

Leaves fascicled on very short branchlets, deciduous.

2.

Larix.

Leaves scattered, persistent.

Cones pendulous; leaves jointed to short persistent sterigmata.

Leaves tetragonal, sessile.

3.

Picea.

Leaves flat, short-petioled.

4.

Tsuga.

Cones erect; sterigmata inconspicuous or none.

5.

Abies.

Scales of the cone few (3-12); leaf-buds naked.

Cone-scales spiral, thick; leaves deciduous-

6.

Taxodium.

Cone-scales opposite; leaves persistent.

Cone oblong, its scales not peltate.

7.

Thuja.

Cone globose, its scales peltate.

8.

Chamaccyparis.

Fruit fleshy, berry-like, a modified cone.

9.

Juniperus.