David Deutsch (Gondwana Gardens) (gondwana at ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: Conifers is perhaps a partial misnomer to describe the group of plants
: you are thinking of. The correct name for them is Gymnosperms. They do
: indeed include all plants that bear cones, but they also include plants
: like Yews (taxus) and Podocarpus, that have a fleshy, fruit-like
: structure, holding the seed. What sets them all apart from other higher
: plants is that they do not bear flowers.
It's probably better to define conifers as one order (Coniferales) within
the taxonomic class Gymnospermae. This separates them from Ginkgo (the
monotypic order Ginkgoales), the Taxales (Taxus, Torreya, etc.), Gnetales
(which aren't even trees), etc.
However, within the Coniferales there are the junipers, whose "cones" are
popularly called "berries" although they are definitely not berries in the
botanical sense.
--
Al Stangenberger forags at nature.berkeley.edu
Dept. of Env. Sci., Policy, & Mgt. 145 Mulford Hall # 3114
Univ. of California at Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-3114
(510) 642-4424 FAX: (510) 643-5438
