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Vascular Flora of the Southeastern United States
Hardin, Massey, Radford, Thieret, eds.

Copyright - James W. Hardin, Ph. D., 1998, 1999. All Rights Reserved.


PINACEAE THE PINE FAMILY


Evergreen or deciduous, monoecious, resinous trees. Leaves acicular (needle-like) or linear, alternate on long shoots, and in some genera, clustered on indeterminate or determinate short shoots. Pollen cones simple, clustered, with spirally arranged microsporophylls each with abaxial sporangia, dropping after pollination. Ovulate or seed cones compound, with thin, spirally arranged bracts, each subtending a thicker scale bearing 2 ovules adaxially near the base. Mature seed cones more or less woody, the seeds with a terminal wing. This is one of our most economically important families for lumber, paper pulp, and turpentine products.