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Pinaceae
Pinaceae image
Thomas Van Devender
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John W. Thieret from Flora of North America (vol. 2)
Trees (occasionally shrubs), evergreen (annually deciduous in Larix ), resinous and aromatic, monoecious. Bark smooth to scaly or furrowed. Lateral branches well developed and similar to leading (long) shoots or reduced to well-defined short (spur) shoots ( Pinus , Larix ); twigs terete, sometimes clothed by persistent primary leaves or leaf bases; longest internodes less than 1cm; buds conspicuous. Roots fibrous to woody, unspecialized. Leaves (needles) simple, shed singly (except whole fascicles shed in Pinus ), alternate and spirally arranged but sometimes proximally twisted so as to appear 1- or 2-ranked, or fascicled, linear to needlelike, sessile to short-petiolate; foliage leaves either borne singly (spirally) on long shoots or in tufts (fascicles) on short shoots; juvenile leaves (when present) borne on long shoots, scalelike; resin canals present. Pollen cones maturing and shed annually, solitary or clustered, axillary, ovoid to ellipsoid or cylindric; sporophylls overlapping, bearing 2 abaxial microsporangia (pollen sacs); pollen spheric, 2-winged, less commonly with wings reduced to frill (in Tsuga sect. Tsuga ), or not winged (in Larix and Pseudotsuga ). Seed cones maturing and shed in 1--3 seasons or long-persistent, sometimes serotinous (not opening upon maturity but much later: Pinus ), compound, axillary, solitary or grouped; scales overlapping, free from subtending included or exserted bracts for most of length, spirally arranged, strongly flattened, at maturity relatively thin to strongly thickened and woody (in Pinus ), with 2 inverted, adaxial ovules. Seeds 2 per scale, elongate terminal wing partially decurrent on seed body (wing short or absent in some species of Pinus ); aril lacking; cotyledons 2--12[--18]. The Pinaceae, with a fossil record extending back to the Cretaceous (C.N. Miller Jr. 1988), constitute a clearly defined natural taxon, the basic delimiting features of which are seen in the mature seed cones: bract-scale complexes consisting of well-developed scales that are free for most of their length from the subtending bracts, two inverted ovules on the adaxial face of each scale, and usually an obvious seed wing that develops from the cone scale. The 10 genera, too, are clearly defined. The cones of certain members of the Pinaceae remain on the tree and closed for several to many years until a stimulus (often fire) causes them to open and shed their seeds. This condition, known as serotiny (adjective, serotinous), is seen in various pines (e.g., Pinus attenuata , P . banksiana , P . contorta ).

This primarily Northern Hemisphere family extends south to the West Indies, Central America, Japan, China, Indonesia, the Himalayas, and North Africa. The family is dominant in the vegetation of large regions including, in the flora area, forests of the boreal and Pacific regions, of the western mountains, and of the southeastern coastal plain. Only one species of the family, Pinus merkusii , crosses the equator (in Sumatra).

Members of the Pinaceae are of major economic importance as producers of most of the world's softwood timber. Additionally, they are sources of pulpwood, naval stores (e.g., tar, pitch, turpentine, etc.), essential oils, and other forest products. All members of the family present in the flora, especially pines, are of varying importance to wildlife for food and cover. Many species, including most of the genera, are grown as ornamentals and shelter-belt trees and for revegetation. Most commonly seen in cultivation in the flora area are species of Abies , Cedrus , Larix , Picea , Pinus , Pseudotsuga , and Tsuga , each of these genera being represented by numerous cultivars. Keteleeria and Pseudolarix are mainly botanical garden subjects. Cathaya , the most recently described genus (1958), is apparently not yet in cultivation in North America.

Among the vegetative features useful for identification of some genera of Pinaceae are the leaf scars. These are best observed on those portions of living branchlets from which leaves have fallen.

Show all taxa || << 1 - 50 taxa >>
Abies alba
Image of Abies alba
Abies amabilis
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Abies balsamea
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Abies bifolia
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Abies borisii-regis
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Abies bracteata
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Abies cephalonica
Image of Abies cephalonica
Abies chensiensis
Image of Abies chensiensis
Abies cilicica
Image of Abies cilicica
Abies coahuilensis
Image of Abies coahuilensis
Abies concolor
Image of Abies concolor
Abies delavayi
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Abies douglassii
Image of Abies douglassii
Abies durangensis
Image of Abies durangensis
Abies fabri
Image of Abies fabri
Abies fargesii
Image of Abies fargesii
Abies firma
Image of Abies firma
Abies flinckii
Image of Abies flinckii
Abies forrestii
Image of Abies forrestii
Abies fraseri
Image of Abies fraseri
Abies grandis
Image of Abies grandis
Abies guatemalensis
Image of Abies guatemalensis
Abies hickelii
Image of Abies hickelii
Abies hidalgensis
Image of Abies hidalgensis
Abies holophylla
Image of Abies holophylla
Abies homolepis
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Abies jaliscana
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Abies kawakamii
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Abies koreana
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Abies lasiocarpa
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Abies lowiana
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Abies magnifica
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Abies mariesii
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Abies mexicana
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Abies nebrodensis
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Abies nephrolepis
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Abies nobilis
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Abies nordmanniana
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Abies numidica
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Abies pindrow
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Abies pinsapo
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Abies procera
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Abies recurvata
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Abies religiosa
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Abies sachalinensis
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Abies sibirica
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Abies spectabilis
Image of Abies spectabilis
Abies squamata
Image of Abies squamata
Abies veitchii
Image of Abies veitchii
Abies vejari
Image of Abies vejari
The National Science Foundation
Development supported by National Science Foundation Grants (DBI 9983132, BRC 0237418, DBI 0743827, DBI 0847966)
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