These shaded understory trees survive by gathering indirect sunlight or sun flecks that break through openings in the canopy. A rounded crown seems to work best for gathering filtered, understory sunlight, which comes from many different directions. The shape of the tree's crown also has a lot to do with where it lives. Nearer to the equator, the noontime sun is almost directly overhead all year. Up nearer to the Arctic circle, the sun is never directly overhead and is usually quite low in the sky.
Needles retain water better than broad-leafed trees like oaks and maples.
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