Conifers
The Wood Guide · The forests
The forest series · the treesConifers
Gymnosperms with needles instead of leaves and cones instead of fruits. The trees that conquered the cold north — and one that drops its needles after all.
- Gymnospermae
- Seeds in cones
- Evergreen, all but one
Conifers in brief
Gymnosperms: trees that do not wrap their seeds in a fruit but carry them bare on a cone scale. That is the botanical difference from broadleaf trees — not the shape of the needle.
Calling them needle trees, as Dutch does, points to the leaf shape, but the classification is about reproduction. Gymnospermae literally means naked seed: no flesh, no covering, just a seed on a scale. Broadleaf trees are angiosperms and do wrap their seed — in an acorn, a nut, a berry.
The needle shape is an adaptation to cold and drought. Little surface area means little water loss, and a waxy coating protects against frost. That lets a conifer carry on photosynthesising on the first sunny day in March, while a broadleaf tree still needs weeks to grow its leaves.
The larch sheds its needles in autumn and stands bare through the winter. Botanically it is still a conifer — the cones and the needle shape define the group, not whether the tree stays green. See larch.
- Botanical group
- gymnosperms (Gymnospermae)
- Seeds
- bare on a cone scale, without a fruit
- Leaves
- needles or scales; small surface area
- Evergreen
- almost always — larch is the exception
- Distribution
- dominate the cold and temperate zones
- The wood
- conifer wood, also called softwood
To be fair: conifer forests are ecologically poorer than broadleaf forests when they are planted as a monoculture. A pine plantation of trees of the same age and species holds a fraction of the life of a mixed forest — and is also more vulnerable to storms, fire and insect plagues.
In pictures · The conifers you will come across
Schematic drawing.
The conifers you will come across
| Genus | Common name | How to recognise it | The wood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picea | Spruce | Needles all round the twig, hanging cones | Spruce |
| Pinus | Pine | Needles in bundles of 2, 3 or 5 | Pine |
| Abies | Silver fir | Flat needles, upright cones | Also sold as whitewood (spruce) |
| Larix | Larch | Needles in tufts, sheds them in winter | Larch |
| Pseudotsuga | Douglas fir | Three-pointed bracts between the cone scales | Douglas fir |
| Thuja | Thuja (arborvitae) | Scale-like leaves, no needles | Western red cedar |
| Tsuga | Hemlock | Drooping tip, short needles | Hemlock |
| Cupressus | Cypress | Scale-like leaves, aromatic | Cypress |
| Sequoia | Coast redwood | The tallest trees in the world | Redwood |
If the cones hang down, it is a spruce or a pine. If they stand upright on the branch, it is a silver fir — and those cones also fall apart scale by scale rather than dropping whole. One look up is enough.
Why needles and cones
Needles against drought
Little surface area and a thick waxy coating mean little water loss. In winter, frozen ground is as dry as desert sand — the water is there, but it cannot be taken up.
Staying green pays off
A tree that keeps its leaves can get to work as soon as the sun returns. In a short northern summer that makes weeks of difference in growth.
A cone shape against snow
The narrow, conical crown lets snow slide off instead of catching it. A broad broadleaf crown would break under the weight.
Resin as a defence
Conifers seal wounds with resin and so keep out insects and fungi. That is also why pine and larch are rich in resin and spruce less so.
Conifers or broadleaf trees
| Conifers | Broadleaf trees | |
|---|---|---|
| Botanical group | Gymnosperms | Angiosperms |
| Seeds | Bare on a cone scale | In a fruit: acorn, nut, berry |
| Leaves | Needles or scales | Broad and flat |
| Winter | Mostly green (except larch) | Mostly bare |
| Growth rate | Faster | Slower |
| Wood | Lighter, 400 to 550 kg/m³ | Denser, 550 to 1,100+ kg/m³ |
| Distribution | Cold and temperate zones | Temperate and tropical zones |
This is the page about the trees. For the properties of the wood itself — density, durability classes and uses — see conifer wood, and for the counterpart broadleaf trees.
Frequently asked questions about conifers
What is the difference between conifers and broadleaf trees?
Conifers are gymnosperms: their seed lies bare on a cone scale. Broadleaf trees are angiosperms and wrap their seed in a fruit. The needle shape is a result of their environment, not the basis of the classification.
Are all conifers evergreen?
Almost. The larch sheds its needles in autumn and stands bare through the winter — botanically it is still a conifer.
Why do conifers have needles?
To limit water loss. In winter, frozen ground is effectively dry; a small leaf surface with a waxy coating then loses far less moisture than a broad leaf.
Which wood comes from conifers?
Softwood, also called softwood: spruce, pine, Douglas fir, larch, cedar and western red cedar.
Conifers in perspective
Naked seeds on a scale — that is what connects them, not the needle.
Have a question about your project? Just ask — we're happy to help.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Larix decidua and Pinus cembra, Carinthia — Johann Jaritz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Picea abies — MrPanyGoff, CC BY-SA 3.0