_A._ CEPHALOTAXEÆ is the oldest group, presumably the connecting link between the Cycadeæ and the other Coniferæ. The flower consists normally of two ovules. Aril wanting. One integument. Seeds drupaceous.--The flowers in _Ginkgo biloba_ (_Salisburia_) are situated in the axil of foliage- or scale-leaves. The stamens bear only two pollen-sacs (Fig. 260 _A_). The female flower has two ovules, placed together at the end of a long, bare axis (Fig. 260 _C_). Round the base of the ovule a small collar (_ar_, in Fig. 260 _D_) is found, which may probably be considered homologous with the collar-like outgrowth which surrounds the base of the _Cycas_-ovule. The seed resembles a Plum, and has a fleshy external coat, surrounding a hard internal layer. The embryo is developed after the seed has fallen off. The Ginkgo-tree has long-stalked, fan-shaped leaves, more or less indented, with dichotomous veins resembling certain Ferns--the Adiantums. It is a native of East Asia, and the only surviving species of a genus which in earlier times was very rich in species, and distributed over the entire Northern Hemisphere. _Cephalotaxus_ (Eastern Asia) is related to it. [Illustration: FIG. 260.--_Ginkgo_ (nat. size): _A_ a branch with a small flowering dwarf-branch (male flower); _B_ a leaf; _C_ a flower with two ovules; _D_ a ripe seed; _ar_ collar.] [Illustration: FIG. 261.--_Phyllocladus glaucus_: a branch with female flowers (nat. size).] _B._ PODOCARPEÆ. The female flower is reduced to one ovule, placed in the axil of a bract, or a little forward upon it. The ovule has an aril (2 integuments).--_Phyllocladus_ (Fig. 261), from New Zealand and Tasmania, has obtained its name from its flat, _leaf-like branches_, the leaves proper being scale-like (_f_). The ovules stand _erect_ in the axil of the scale-like leaves (_c_), and several are collected at the end of short branches.--_Microcachrys tetragona_ (Tasmania) has a small female catkin with several spirally-placed, fleshy bracts, at the end of which the inward and downward turned ovule is attached (Fig. 262 _A_, _A’_). The ripe cones are red, succulent, and resemble Strawberries.--In _Dacrydium_ (Tasmania, New Zealand, Malaysia) the female cone has most frequently only 1–2 (–6) bracts, which resemble the vegetative leaves; they have also a fleshy aril (Fig. 262 _B_, _B’_).--_Podocarpus_ (40 species, East Asia, S. Temp.); the bracts of the female flowers become fleshy, and unite together; only 1 or 2 are of use in supporting the flowers. The ovules project high above the apex of the bract, and are _anatropous_, the micropyle being turned downwards (Fig. 262 _C_, _D_). An aril commences to develope in the flowering period as an external coating, and later on it becomes fleshy and coloured.