| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order Type: Gymnosperm
Order: Coniferales (Pinales)
Family: Cupressaceae + Taxodiaceae
Family Common Name: Cypress or Redwood Family
Genera: Juniperus, Metasequoia, Taxodium, Thuja |
Defining Features: Bald cypress,
giant and coastal redwoods, and dawn redwood are three genera of redwood
that were much more widely distributed in the past. Metasequoia in particular
was important in the North American flora in the early Cenozoic, but is
now nearly extinct with one extant species. The one surviving population
of Metasequoia glyptstroboides was discovered in China in
1940. Descendents from this population are widely planted as ornamentals.
The family includes the world's most massive trees (Sequoiadendron) and
the tallest (Sequoia).
Defining Morphology: Reproductive
Features: Plants are monoecious or dioecious (Juniperus). Microsprophylls
bear two to ten microsporangia. Seed scale is joined to the sterile bract
and bears one to twenty ovules. Seeds with or without wings. Embryo is
straight with 2-15 cotyledons. In Juniper, cones become fleshy and berry-like,
and the seeds are bird dispersed. Vegetative Features: Habit as evergreen
(deciduous in three genera) trees and shrubs with fragrant foliage and
wood. Deciduous members shed whole shoot systems and not just leaves. Leaves
are simple, spirally arranged, opposite or whorled and scale-like. Leaves
have resin canals.
Distribution: Worldwide from
cold to warm temperate regions.
Economic Use: As cultivated
garden ornamentals. Wood is being used for home and boat construction.
Wood of those species with fragrance is being used as insect repellant
and perfume.
Number of Genera Globally:
32
Number of Species Globally:
130
