### plant | tracheophyte | tree:

Conifer
* All conifers are woody, having secondary growth similar to woody angiosperms
  - lose their oldest needles or leaves, which are towards the centre of the tree
  - reproduce by means of cones that produce pollen and seeds
* Many conifers are evergreen , that is they retain their leaves in winter
  - slow growing, measured in just a few inches per year
  - go through seasonal changes and provide interest in the winter landscape
* Many conifers have an excurrent branching pattern, and many resist ice storm damage
  - leaves adapted for windy or low-moisture conditions
  - suffer from desiccation of shoots in winter rather than from direct thermal damage
* Most conifers are cone-bearing trees, such as pines and firs
  - evergreen and produce cones
  - evergreen, retaining their leaves and photosynthesizing throughout the year
* Most conifers are evergreens, or softwoods, and they produce seeds within cones
  - with the larch and the bald cypress being notable exceptions
  - green, some forms can be yellow,blue,or variegated
  - susceptible to infection, especially exotic species such as Austrian pine
  - symbiotic with mycorrhizae to utilize scarce nutrients more effectively
  - bear cones and most are evergreens, though a few, such as the larch , are deciduous
* Most conifers contain compounds
  - flammable resin
  - highly flammable resins
  - plant compounds
* Most conifers contain secondary compounds
  - drop leaves
  - grow feet
* Most conifers grow in areas
  - dry open areas
  - into trees
  - large as they mature
* Most conifers have cones
  - diversity
  - dry needles
  - leaves that are narrow and needlelike or tiny and scalelike
  - low taxonomic diversity
  - male cones
* Most conifers have persistent foliage consisting of needles or scales
  - leaves which remain green for two or more years before they are shed
  - pinecones
  - shapes
  - thick needles
  - two kinds of cones
  - widespread, shallow root systems
  - just don t branch out readily after pruning as other plants do
  - lose and replace their leavers all year round, so called evergreen
* Most conifers produce berries
  - retain their leaves year-round
  - show similarity
* Some conifers adapt to conditions
  - drought conditions
  - environments
  - extreme environments
* Some conifers adapt to severe conditions
* Some conifers are completely deciduous
  - the largest and the oldest organisms on earth
  - bear both male and female cones while some bear only male or only female cones
* Some conifers have bicolor, needles of stripes, spots or patches
  - disturbances
  - forks
  - pipes
  - short candles, such as a dwarf Alberta spruce and a bird nest spruce
  - strategies
  - surface disturbances
  - produce resin
  - protect leaves
* Some conifers provide food
  - protection
  - thermal protection
* Some conifers retain foliage
  - share characteristics
* also have a very important impact on the environment
  - resins which act to protect the plant from predation
  - that pointy shape for a good reason
  - provide cover, nesting habitat, and food for a variety of songbirds and wildlife
  - serve as a food source such as pine nuts
* appear to be free of attack
  - one of the taxa that benefitted from the Permian extinction event
* are a common sight in the Upper Peninsula
  - form of higher vascular plants known as seed plants
  - magnificent group of gymnosperm plants that produce seeds without fruit or flowers
* are also better adapted to inferior soils
  - common in tropical areas
  - commonly evergreen and reproduce through the formation of cones
  - cone shaped to accommodate large amounts of snowfall in the winter
  - cone-bearing trees or bushes
  - corn bearing plants
  - especially susceptible to root structure problems in containers
  - examples of gymnosperms
  - favorite nesting sites
  - good choices, but become broad at the base as they mature
  - green all year-round and never lose their needles or leaves like the other trees do
  - important to a variety of animals for food and shelter
  - known for their longevity, with pines among the oldest trees on Earth
  - moneoicious, they have both male and female strobili
  - monoecious
  - more susceptible to injury than other plants
  - of major importance as the source of softwood, and also supply resins and turpentine
  - on a long list of plants classified as dicots
  - perennial plants that are highly branched trees and shrubs
  - predominantly evergreen, cone-bearing trees, such as pine, spruce, hemlock, or fir
  - rare, but there are non-conifers that look just like pines
  - simply cone-bearing trees
  - subject to root rot if their roots are pruned while still dormant
* are the accent plants of the landscape
  - biggest and oldest organisms on our planet
* are the dominant form of plant life
  - vegetation in cold or arid environments and at high altitudes
  - gymnospermous group with the most profound ecological role in Earth's vegetation
* are the largest and tallest living trees
  - groupnig of gymnosperms, which are naked seeded plants
  - most common type of gymnosperm
  - world's tallest, oldest and most massive trees
  - trees or shrubs that reproduce through seeds grown in cones
* are trees that bear cones
  - their seeds in cones, and have slender, pointed, needle-like leaves
  - with no leaves
  - very simple
  - wind-pollinated
  - wonderful for attracting birds like evening grosbeaks
* are woody plants with needle or scale-like leaves that form cones
  - plants, usually evergreens or shrubs
  - woody, and most are evergreen
* bear seeds in woody cones, except for junipers and yews, which have a berry-like structure.
* can be good as they provide shade, shelter with less risk from falling leaves
  - out-compete many angiosperms in cold climates
* closely related to pines include firs, larches, and spruces.
* come in a range of colors, sizes and forms.
  - tracheids to conduct water
* deposit litter on the soil which decays slowly because of the cold climate.
* do shed their leaves but most do so gradually over a long time span.
* dominate the northern forests.
* form a major portion of the shrubs grown by commercial nurserymen
  - dense forests in colder, northern regions
  - the best windbreaks
* get their name from the cones they bear.
* grow in all climate zones and on all continents except Antarctica
* guarantee colour and structure in the garden throughout the year.
* have a more acidic bark than broad-leaved species
  - abundant resin flow from the trunk at the soil line
  - compression wood
  - cones, spiral clusters or modified leaves
  - enormous economic importance
  - features
  - greater root strength for slope stabilization than grasses or legumes
  - growth patterns that minimize the chances of damage occurring
  - higher leaf densities than hardwoods
* have male and female cones
  - needlelike or scalelike leaves
  - needles for leaves that stay green all year long and make their seeds inside of cones
  - needles, a type of leaf
  - roots, a woody stem and needle like leaves
  - seeds in cones, and are released during forest fires and other natural disasters
  - significant economic and environmental importance, and a remarkable evolution
  - some fascinating adaptations that overcome the problem of broken water columns
  - special cell adaptations to facilitate water transport whenever temperatures allow it
  - their own unique appearance
* includes bark
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - leaf nodes
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - sections
  - stumps
  - tree branches
  - treetops
  - trunks
  - vacuoles
  - xylem
* lose needles each fall, just the same as broad-leaf trees.
* make rather small ovules and lack swimming sperm.
* necessarily use water as well.
* often grow close together in nature
  - in pure stands
  - live in dry environments, and the needles of conifers are actually, they are leaves
  - react slowly to the spruce spider mite feeding
* possess a shallow, extensive, yet compact, network of roots.
* produce a light uniform wood which can be very strong
  - strong tap root system that becomes highly branched and extensive
  - seeds but in the cones rather than flowers
  - their seeds in cones, and have scaly leaves and needles
* provide important habitat and shelter for many animal species
  - much more protection from inclement weather than do deciduous trees
  - singing posts, nesting, roosting, perching, and other cover
  - unsurpassed beauty with their spectacular color changes
* range in size from prostrate plants growing only a few inches tall to large trees.
* really give some of the best shelter and lots of nesting spots for birds.
* release pollen from cones that fuse with the ovum of another tree.
* represent the largest gymnosperm class, and include seven families
  - next level of plant evolutionary development
* require more time than broadleaf plants.
* seem to be the best trees for removing particulate matter from the atmosphere
  - react slowly to spider mite attack
* stay green year round.
* tend to be evergreen, that is, they bear needles all year long
  - flammable due to their oil and pitch content, regardless of their water content
* transplant easily from the nursery to the field and require minimum care after planting.
* typically regenerate from seed.
* work particularly well
+ Pollination: Plants :: Biological reproduction :: Co-evolution
  * Pollen flowing from a pine tree. Conifers are wind-pollinated.