Some, like cedar, cypress and juniper trees, have scale-like leaves and do not shed individual leaves, but shed short branches bearing one or more years growth. (5). The needles are 4 to 8 cm (1.6 to 3.1 in) long in fascicles of two, alternate on twigs. Planting trees, conifers or hedges allows you to create spots of shade or increase privacy around your garden. It loves these windy sites because it is one of the most windfirm trees, swaying grandly in even the most howling gales of winter. To make it clear, measured values are shown in the tables. Black spruce most commonly grows as pure stands on organic soils and as mixed stands on mineral soil sites. Western hemlock is a component of the redwood forests on the coasts of northern California and adjacent Oregon. They can also be found in Central America and South America. Incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) is the most widespread associate of Jeffrey pine on ultramafic soils. The largest genera are Pinus (pines) with 109 species. Conifers are evergreen trees recognizable by their distinctly needlelike foliage, instead of the broad leaves commonly seen on other trees and shrubs. Also, click on "major plant groups" at the bottom of the page to browse descriptions of species of interest. Eastern hemlock is associated in the Northern Forest Region with White Pine, Sugar Maple,Red Spruce, Balsam Fir and Yellow Birch; in the Central and Southern Forest Region with Yellow-Poplar, Northern Red Oak, Red Maple, Eastern White Pine, Fraser Fir and Beech. SAPPA/De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images), (Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0). In Oregon and western Washington, it is a major constituent of the Picea sitchensis, Tsuga heterophylla, and Abies amabilis Zones and is less important in the Tsuga mertensiana and Mixed-Conifer Zones. The leaves are usually long, pointy needles. Also, new reproductive evidence shows that the seed, which is enclosed by a fleshy additional seed covering called an aril, actually begins development within a reduced compound seed-cone structure. Christmas TreesAn illustrated guide to Canada's Christmas tree species. Most conifer species are evergreen, meaning they retain most of their leaves throughout the year. Locally prominent are Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), ponderosa pine, sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), western white pine (P. monticola), knob-cone pine (P. attenuata), Digger pine (P. sabiniana), and Sargent cypress (Cupressus sargentii). In other conifers, such as pines, the bract and scale may be partly fused forming a bract-scale complex. Mature seed cones are usually small, woody, soft or berrylike, and all have completely fused bracts and scales, each of which may bear several seeds. Associated tree species, listed in order of presence on dry to mesic sites, include northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis), bur oak (Q. macrocarpa), red pine (Pinus resinosa), bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), northern red oak Quercus rubra), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), red maple (Acer rubrum), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), white spruce (Picea glauca), black spruce (P. mariana), tamarack (Larix laricina), and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera). In the northern forest they are northern pin oak, red pine, quaking aspen, paper birch, and balsam fir. Coniferous trees 1. Conifers comprise a monophyletic group of highly branched trees or shrubs with simple leaves, the latter a possible apomorphy shared with the ginkgophytes (Figure 5.1).Leaves of conifers are often linear, acicular (needle-like), or subulate (awl-shaped; see Chapter 9), although they are sometimes broad and large.In some conifers the leaves are clustered into short shoots, in which adjacent internodes are very … Wherever Douglas-fir grows in mixture with other species, the proportion may vary greatly, depending on aspect, elevation, kind of soil, and the past history of an area, especially as it relates to fire. Pitch pine is the major component of the forest cover type Pitch Pine (Society of American Foresters Type 45) and is listed as an associate in nine other types: Eastern White Pine (Type 21), Chestnut Oak (Type 44), White Pine-Chestnut Oak (Type 51), White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak (Type 52), Shortleaf Pine (Type 75), Virginia Pine-Oak (Type 78), Virginia Pine (Type 79), and Atlantic White-Cedar (Type 97). Fraser fir is a component of four forest cover types (10): Pin Cherry (Society of American Foresters Type 17), Red Spruce-Yellow Birch (Type 30), Red Spruce (Type 32), and Red Spruce-Fraser Fir (Type 34). Pure stands of red spruce comprise the forest cover type Red Spruce (Society of American Foresters Type 32). Tall white pine are particularly noteworthy in this … Even though it is not a true cedar, it is also often confusingly called "Nootka Cedar," "Yellow Cedar," and "Alaska Yellow Cedar."