CONIFERS OF CALIFORNIA - native plants

CONIFERS OF CALIFORNIA

HOME TO OVER 50 SPECIES OF CONE-BEARING SHRUBS AND TREES

Conifers are woody plants bearing needles or scales as leaves and reproducing by pollen cones and seed cones rather than flowers.

? Conifers belong to only a handful of families, three of which occur in California.

? The total number of species worldwide is around 600 compared to the nearly 300,000 species of flowering plants.

? Despite this, conifers dominate many woodlands and forests, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.

? Most of California's conifers are monoecious, the same plant bearing both pollen cones and seed cones.

Our three conifer families are the pine family, Pinaceae; cypress family, Cupressaceae; and yew family, Taxaceae.

? By far the largest number of species are in the pine family. ? We'll start with that family first. ? Traits of the pine family include needles for leaves, small pollen cones

that develop early in the year (later of course in the high mountains), ? Seed cones that vary from tiny and papery to massive and woody, ? The scales of each cone are spirally arranged and bear only two seeds

each.

The type genus of the Pinaceae is Pinus, or pines. This genus has more than a third of California's conifers. Because of its size Pinus is split into groups.

? All pines bear their needles on tiny spur shoots along the main twigs. ? Each spur shoot bears tiny colorless scales and a definite number of

needles. The numbers range from 1 to 5 or 6. ? Pine bark varies considerably in its details and is often useful in

identifying species. ? Pine needles also come in several different lengths and range from

bright green to dull gray-green.

We'll only cover some of the most important groups of pines here, starting with the white pines.

? White pines are characterized by slender needles in 5s, hanging, slender, light-weight seed cones with non-prickly scales, and whitish wood, which is considered valuable for lumber.

? Although we have 3 species of white pines, the most widespread is the sugar pine, Pinus lambertiana.

? Sugar pine occurs in the middle forest belt of the mountains, where it grows with ponderosa pine, white fir, incense-cedar, and a few other trees.

? Sugar pine can be seen near Mt. St. Helena.

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