Conifers

Conifers () are a group of vascular plants and a subset of gymnosperms. They are primarily perennial, woody trees and shrubs, mostly evergreen with a regular branching pattern, reproducing with male and female cones, usually on the same tree. They are wind-pollinated and the seeds are usually dispersed by the wind. Taxonomically, they make up the division Pinophyta, also known as Coniferae. All extant conifers, except for the gnetophytes, are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. There are over 600 living species.

seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants

edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing

thumb|right|An aril that surrounds the nutmeg seed is used as a [[spice called mace]] thumb|right|The edible white aril of Litchi chinensis is sometimes called an arillode or false aril. It grows partly from the funiculus and partly from the [[integument of the seed.]]

biome

REDIRECT Conifer

tropical forest habitat type

thumb|Krummholz Pinus albicaulis in [[Wenatchee National Forest in north-central Washington, United States]] thumb|Wind-sculpted krummholz trees, Brian Booth State Park|Ona Beach, [[Oregon, United States]]

obtaining tree resin

Cupressales is one of two orders of conifers within the subclass Cupressidae. It comprises three or four families: the cypress family, the yew family, the Cephalotaxaceae (which are sometimes included in the yew family and sometimes counted as a separate family) and the umbrella pines.

ancient Roman sculpture

thumb|The fleshy aril which surrounds each seed in the yew is a highly modified seed cone scale. The plant order Taxales was until recently treated as a distinct order in the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, and included only those species in the family Taxaceae, known commonly as yews. Under this interpretation, all other conifers were classified separately in the order Pinales. Recent genetic and micromorphological studies, however, have shown the Taxaceae are closely related to the other conifers, particularly so to the family Cephalotaxaceae. The order Taxales is therefore no longer re

Araucariales is one of two orders of conifers within the subclass Cupressidae. It comprises the families Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae, both of whose surviving members are mainly southern hemisphere conifers.

biotope