CONIFERS

Early conifers looked very similar to the modern genus Araucaria. However, the cones were completely different. The earliest forms are known from the middle Westphalian and by the end of the Westphalian they may be locally common. Nevertheless, they are usually very rare elements in Carboniferous floras.

http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/kerp/seite10.html

History of Palaeozoic Forests

http://www.cfl.scf.rncan.gc.ca/collections-cfl/hosttrees/conifers/

http://bonsaibc.ca/peninsula/CONIFERS%20A-O.htm

http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/networks/euforgen/networks/conifers/conifers.htm

Conifers Network

http://www.uah.edu/admin/Fac/grounds/WPCONF.htm

The Conifers

http://www.rbge.org.uk/rbge/web/hort/conifer.jsp

Conifers at RBGE

    

http://oregonstate.edu/trees/con/

the common conifers found in the Pacific Northwest

http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/robson/cl/natrs301/conifers/conifers.htm

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T223.HTM

PINOPSIDA (conifers)

 

http://www.nearctica.com/trees/conifer/

The Complete Conifers of North America

http://www.perspective.com/nature/plantae/conifers.html

The Plant Kingdom: Conifers

http://home.earthlink.net/~earlecj/

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/forestry/g380.htm

Growing Conifers from Seed

http://www.uni-muenster.de/GeoPalaeontologie/Palaeo/Palbot/seite10.html

http://lsvl.la.asu.edu/plb407/kpigg/conifers.htm

Early Conifers and the Origin of Modern Conifer Families

http://www.gethsemanegardens.com/almanac_conifertext.html

What are conifers?

The word "conifer" means cone-bearing. So the quickest way to decide whether a plant is a conifer or not is to check for cones. Conifers are usually evergreen trees or shrubs, with woody stems and leaves usually in the form of needles. Needles come in many different forms - flat or round, thin or thicker, stiff or soft, scale-like or protruding, attached to stems in bundles called fascicles or singly. Unlike most other seed-forming plants, conifers don't form seeds in flowers or fruits. Instead, as gymnosperms ("naked seed"), their seeds grow in cones. The seed cone is the female half; the male cone contains pollen.