C is for Conifer

Conifers are the largest and some of the oldest living things.  Belonging to the family Gymnosperms they share a characteristic that their seeds are not enclosed in a fruit, but instead lay naked at the base of a cone.  The conifers are the only gymnosperms that are considered successful today.  Most are evergreens like the hemlock, cedar, Douglas-fir, redwood, spruce and giant Sequoia but some like the larch and bald cypress lose their needles in winter.  The evergreen foliage works well in a temperate northern climate to catch the sun’s angled rays.  Sometimes covering the entire tree the foliage can produce sugars (tree food) anytime the sun shines and the temperature is right and water available.

Conifers are used in the construction of many homes and provide homes for a variety of species, including some currently listed as threatened or endangered.   If you look outside on a winter day when other trees have lost their leaves the green tree you see is likely a conifer.