I have often wished to have some simple, straight-forward information as to conifers, so as to be able to know what differences among them are really recognized by botanists, and what are the correct names of those which one commonly sees. Having gathered that information, I propose to impart it, as far as may be consistent with brevity, to my readers, though I am afraid that to some it will prove a dull business. The order Coniferæ, from which the yew trees (Taxaceæ) are excluded, is divided into four families. These are: (1) the family Abietinæ, which comprises the true pines, and fir trees, and the cedars; (2) the family Araucarianæ, which includes the Monkey puzzle of South America and Australia, and the Dammar tree of New Zealand; (3) the family Taxodinæ, which is best known by the so-called Wellingtonia, or Sequoia, but includes several other genera and species; and (4) the family Cupressinæ, in which the juniper, cypress, and "arbor vitæ," or Thuya, are placed. The form and size of the frequently needle-like leaves of coniferæ are not of so much importance in indicating the affinities of these plants as one might expect, although their grouping either in tufts or in rows is a matter of significance. In some of them the "needles," or leaves, are long and narrow (Abietinæ); in others they are broad and leaf-like (Araucarianæ); in others they are all or most of them reduced to mere ridges or short scales set quite closely to the leaf-bearing branch (many Cupressinæ and Taxodinæ). It is not possible to give, without going into botanical minutiæ, the items of structure by which the four families of conifers are distinguished from one another. It is best for the nature-lover who is not an adept in botanical details to think of them as grouped each round one well-known species. Thus the Abietinæ are grouped round the spruce pine, the Araucarianæ round the monkey puzzle, the Taxodinæ round the Wellingtonia, and the Cupressinæ round the juniper. In all but the last family the ovule-bearing scales of the female cone are arranged spiral-wise around a central supporting stem; in Cupressinæ they are few in number, very thick, and opposite to one another so as to form a globular rather than a cone-shaped body. In all but a few Cupressinæ and Araucarianæ the male and female cones are carried on the same tree, sometimes on separate branches, but usually on the same branch. The male and female cones are always distinct, and the female much the larger and more enduring. [Illustration: FIG. 33.--A thin slice across one of the foliage needles of the Common Spruce. Highly magnified. _r_, The single resin canal; _f_, the mid-rib, with a single bundle of fibres and vessels cut across.--(From Veitch.)]