The larch.—The larch is a cone-bearer, and a near relative of the pines and firs, but it differs from them in shedding its leaves annually. The leaves are (as is usual in cone-bearing trees) needle-shaped, but they are very thin and they grow in tufts on short alternate spurs. The cones are small and are arranged in a row on the twig. Their scales do not fit so closely together as those of the pine and fir cones. The larch tree has a conical form, but can readily be distinguished from the spruce by its drooping boughs, and absence of leaves in winter. Gymnosperms.—The pines, firs, and larches are neither dicotyledons nor monocotyledons, but belong to a class of plants which botanists call gymnosperms, in allusion to the fact that their ovules are not enclosed in ovaries, like those of other flowering plants, but are naked. This is the most ancient and primitive group of flowering plants known. In fact they form a connecting link between higher flowering plants and the group to which the ferns and horsetails—which are still more primitive—belong. [Pg 164] EXERCISES ON CHAPTER VIII. 1. What trees are the first to put on leaves in England? Which flower before leafing? Which trees are the latest to come into leaf? When do evergreens, for the most part, change their leaves? (N.F.U.) 2. Describe the fruit and seed of four of our commonest trees, explaining in each case how the seeds are distributed. (N.F.U.) 3. Make observations to find which of the following trees endure shade most readily—oak, beech, elm, sycamore, chestnut. 4. What do you suppose are the advantages and disadvantages of shading and crowding trees, as regards the quality of the resulting timber? 5. Study young pines and firs, and find out during which period of life they grow most rapidly. 6. Which trees have you found growing (a) in heavy clay soils, (b) in sandy soils? 7. Describe any observations upon six common British trees which could be made during a walk in early spring. (N.F.U.) [Pg 165] CHAPTER IX. FRUITS: HOW SEEDS ARE SCATTERED. 35. PLANTS WHICH SOW THEIR OWN SEEDS. 1. The fruit of the wallflower.—Examine wallflower fruits and make out that each consists of the ripened pistil. Does the fruit open of itself? How many chambers does it consist of? Where are the seeds attached? Are they blown off at last by the wind? Draw the fruit. It is called a siliqua. 2. Compare with this the fruit of shepherd’s purse (Fig. 62), and penny cress (Fig. 132), and notice that they are of the type of the wallflower fruit, but are much broader in proportion to the length. Such a fruit is called a silicula. Draw.