O Coniopterygidæ (koniopterijide)

pl. [NL., a, a, a, Conidio W. B. Carpenter, Micros., § 318. conifer (kō'ni-fèr), n. [= F. con ifère Sp. conifero Pg. It. conifero , L. co bearing, viticola ), enlarged. phores, and b, b, Co ferre E. bear1.] In bot., a (After Farlow.) plant producing cones; one of the Conifer a. Coniferæ (kō-nif'e-re), n. pl. [NL., fem. pl. of L. conifer, cone-bearing: see conifer.] The principal order of gymnospermous exogens, exceeding every other order in the value of its timber supply and of its resinous products. It is cosmopolitan, but is especially abundant in temperate and mountainous regions, often forming in the northern hemisphere vast forests. It consists of trees or shrubs, mostly evergreen and resinous, usually with subulate (awl-shaped), needle-shaped, or scale-like rigid leaves, and with monce cio us or rarely diœcio us naked flowers. The male flower consists of an indefinite number of stamens upon a central axis, the anthers being frequently suspended from the under side of a peltate scale. The fertile ament consists of scales bearing naked ovules, and in fruit becomes a dry cone or is fleshy and drupe-like. The embryo has often several cotyledons in a whorl. The wood, as in all gymnosperms, is characterized by having the sides of the cells dotted with what are called bordered pits or discoid markings. The order includes 32 genera and about 300 species, and is divided into the following tribes: (a) Abietineæ, bear ing cones formed of spirally imbricated two-seeded scales;