Video:Conifer Trees

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Transcript:Conifer Trees

Conifers or softwoods are classed as gymnosperms or plants with naked seeds not enclosed in an ovary. Conifers may or may not lose their "needles" annually but most are evergreen.

These trees have needlelike or scalelike foliage and usually renew many leaves annually (but not all every year). The foliage is usually narrow and sharp-pointed needles or small and scale-like leaves.  Studying the needle is the best way to identify a conifer.

Several Common Terms for this Major Tree Category:

• Conifer Trees
A tree belonging to the order Coniferales. Trees with needles or scalelike leaves and cones as opposed to broad, flat leaves that more often than not, are coneless.
• Evergreen Trees
Perennial plants which normally keep foliage or needles throughout the entire year.
• Softwood Trees
These are usually evergreen, bear cones, and have needles or scale-like leaves. They include pine, spruces, firs and cedars. Wood hardness varies among the conifer species, and some are actually harder than some hardwoods.

Conifer Trees Have Valuable Timber

The Latin name "conifer" means "to bear cones." Most, but not all, conifers have cones but junipers and yews produce berry-like fruit. Conifers are among the smallest, largest and oldest living woody plants known. The more than 500 conifer species are distributed worldwide and are invaluable for their timber but also adapt well to the landscape. There are 200 conifer species in North America.

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