conifer
Conifers () are a group of vascular plants and a subset of gymnosperms. They are primarily perennial, woody trees and shrubs, mostly evergreen with a regular branching pattern, reproducing with male and female cones, usually on the same tree. They are wind-pollinated and the seeds are usually dispersed by the wind. Taxonomically, they make up the division Pinophyta, also known as Coniferae. All extant conifers, except for the gnetophytes, are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. There are over 600 living species.
Conifers first appear in the fossil record over 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous. They became dominant land plants in the Mesozoic, until flowering plants took over many ecosystems in the Cretaceous. Many conifers today are relict species, surviving in a small part of their former ranges. Such relicts include Wollemia, known only from a small area of Australia, and Metasequoia glyptostroboides, known from Cretaceous fossils and surviving in a small area of China.
Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over the taiga of the Northern Hemisphere. Boreal conifers have multiple adaptations to survive winters, including a conical shape to shed snow, strong tracheid vessels to tolerate ice pressure, and a waxy covering on the needle leaves to minimize water loss. Several fungi form ectomycorrhizal associations with conifers, while other fungi cause diseases such as needle cast, which is especially harmful to young trees. Conifers are affected by pest insects such as wood-boring longhorn beetles and by bark beetles, which make galleries just under the bark. As of 2025, 94 conifer species are listed as endangered and 30 as critically endangered. Conifers are of great economic value for timber and paper production.
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