WORLD ANIMAL DAY

WORLD ANIMAL DAY

Once we had two cats. They were named by us, but I can no longer recall who named which cat, as these are memories of my childhood. Anyhow, the cats were very different from each other, like day and night. And their names didn’t match that much either. But they could get along very well.

The very sweet and quiet cat was named ‘Suusje’, which resembles a sweet female name with a bit of endearing excitement. And it suited her so well! She was a slender orange cat with almost a fluorecent hue, marbled with a few whitish stripes, if I remember well. And indeed she was very sweet, sometimes even boring. But we loved her! And she loved to sit on our laps purring.

The other cat was more firm, and black and white, named ‘Hoogheid’, which means Royal Highness. He had a somewhat fierce, sometimes penetrating look, but was also young and playful and energetic. He certainly had everything of a royal attitude. There were some Siamese genes in him. Well then you know it.

Sometimes we forgot Hoogheid had a bit of an unusual name, and often, when we would call the cat inside for the night with ‘Royal Highness!’ through the open kitchen window, passers-by looked at us dumbfounded. Ofcourse it quite often appeared the cat wouldn’t listen to us at all, and we had to repeat the calling quite often.

I also remember he was once gone for half a year, and we thought we had already lost him, went through the mourning process and such, while one day all of a sudden, I heard him meowing from a distance while running towards me. We were so increadibly happy to have him back!

I can still remember the feeling of sheer happiness when I first saw him. I almost could not believe it. And he appeared to be as thrilled as us to be back home. And only he knows what adventures he went through ofcourse.

But we had so many happy moments with these cats, as a small family, me and my mum and my eldest brother. I remember one evening at the ‘Sinterklaas’ celebration, where both cats jumped a meter high in the air because my brother got an electric toy train, which he could operate with a remote control. The sight of their giant jumps was so funny, that we laughed the entire evening!

Yeah, that’s all gone now, but it reminds me how important pets can be in the lives of humans, and how they really color and shape our lives with us! This also reminds me of a dog we had, named ‘Sarah’, a headstrong colly, who would let you call her for hours without blinking an eye, or even giving a hint of letting you know that she knew you were waiting there.

Then finally, after she was tired chasing the grazing cows and sheeps for hours, would come back home, but her innocent eyes and good looks would cause you to immediately forgive her.

We had more pets through our lifetime, including at a younger age, my grandmothers beautiful German sheperd dog with the appropriate name ‘Caesar’, who once picked up my brother as a baby by his diapers in a park, when he would crawl too far out of sight. The dog wasn’t trained to do so, it was just his instinct and love towards us. We were all utterly amazed. Never forgot that moment too.

My brother and I would also feed him secretly our breakfast porridge (which both of us didn’t like that much), from our spoons held under the table basically, when our mother wasn’t watching.

Unfortunatedly, when I grew older my allergies for pets became worse, and I can’t tolerate them for days around me, because it’ll make me astmatic with itchy eyes. I really hate that because I love animals.

But I have come to an acceptance of it. It is more easy now because I live in a neighbourhood where there aren’t lots of parks to let them run freely, and there’s a lot of dog- and cat poop in these parks nowadays, and sometimes also on the sidewalks.

By the way, if I would have my free plot of land, I would certainly have a few cats and dogs in a room outside my living room (so the allergy components wouldn’t pile up where I would reside most).

At least my pets would be able to run freely on my homestead, without me worrying for them to be run over by a car or something, and without having to walk with them on a leash 3 or 4 times a day, which can be quite a hassle if you have no time, when you’re out of town, or when the weather is bad for days on end.

That’s the other side of all the glossy advertisements for lovely and cute pets in cosy living rooms, where the entire family lives happily and healthy together, while serving their pets cat & dog food from tins and carton boxes or plastic bags, derived from poultry meat, cows and fish. I’ve found it a bit strange at times, as cats and dogs wouldn’t be able to catch a cow themselves, nor fish, but I know, they aren’t born vegetarian either.

Anyhow, this is what I wanted to write today! And it is ‘World Animal Day’ today, I’m only realizing now!

HARVEST MOON

HARVEST MOON

Today on saturday september 14, 2019, we had a full moon around 6:33 am in the Netherlands (12:33 am EDT). According to internet resources, it was also the farthest away from the Earth, with its ‘apogeum’ point at 406377 km distance. Hence this micromoon appeared approximately 7% smaller and 15% dimmer than the average full moon!

For us in the northern hemisphere this full moon day marks the end of summer. In previous evenings, the first signs of autumn already showed noticeably diminishing daylight hours, while fresh gusts of cooler currents marble their way through the warm southern air we have this week.

Aequinoctium Autumnale
This full moon also precedes the equinox on monday the 23th of september at 09:50 am, when the sun is straight above the equator. In Latin it’s called the ‘Aequinoctium Autumnale’, whereby the sun will exactly rise in the east and set in the west, while day and night are equally in length. I always find this calendar of our celestial firmament significant!

Farmers usually make sure to have their last crops harvested around this time, depending on the weather, as it is the beginning of the astronomical fall, when hours of daylight diminish and night temperatures can drop. But prior to climate change, the first night frost would usually happen halfway november overhere, while last year september 2018, the weather gods decided to have night frost one month earlier than average.

Actually, the Dutch word for autumn, is ‘herfst’, and I think it might somehow be etymologically related to the word harvest. But I’m not sure if I can find any proof of that, plus it ain’t autumn yet! And although july and august are significant harvest months for hay and many crops, the branches of my young apple tree bend under the now fully grown red apples. It’s all good. Plus, we can still have an ‘Indian summer’, if the afore mentioned deities decide to act in our favour.

Seasons?
Most people have noticed it over the last years, nowadays the seasons overhere are less characteristic and distinct, more often with erratic patterns of warmer winters and prolonged chill in spring, sometimes alternated with the opposite: hot summer days in early spring.

And although I love all seasons, I would prefer them to be like how they were, when climate change hadn’t had its significant and sometimes dreadful impact. In all honesty, if the weather patterns have to change anyway, I would prefer summer most of the year -and I wouldn’t mind to live in the tropics either-, with just autumn for one month, and a good cold and white winter for three months, and that would be it.

Nostalgic sense
But now, everything is out of balance, and for many there’s a nostalgic sense of longing to the seasonally distinguished weather back in the days. But there’s also a feeling of loss -for those alerted by climate change-, who might feel grief as well regarding the destruction of vast natural habitats in many parts of the world. I suppose we have to cope with it somehow.

But…
Nevertheless, let us celebrate this summers harvest moon, with a wink towards autumn, as there’s still a lot of good and bounty in this world, and plenty for all living beings on this gorgeous and magnificent planet Earth, if we would wish that, and could  make that happen.

But… do we wish this, and can we do that?

© 2019 | by Margreet Wilschut
www.margreetotto.net

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Painting – The Silver Apples Of The Moon, 2018
Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cm ~ Catherine Hyde

CONIFERS 1 – INTRODUCTION

CONIFERS 1 – INTRODUCTION

There are more than 600 species of the Order of Conifers worldwide! Quite a number of them thrive in the Northern Hemisphere, such as the Pine, Cedar, Cypres and Fir or Spruce. Almost all Conifers are evergreen, winter-resistant and tolerate prolonged and severe frost. They grow to a height of 85 to 100 feet (25 to 30 metres), with a crown width and circumference of around 40 feet (12 metres) in diameter with mature trees.

In primeval forests and under the right climatic conditions, the trees can grow to be around 500 years old or even older! Then they can possibly reach a length of around 160 feet (50 meters), with some ancient examples even higher!  A number of Conifers, however, have a shrub shape and become approximately 32 feet (10 meters) high.

Pine, Cedar, Cypres and Fir are the root names of Conifer families. For example, there is not one type of Pine tree, but several. A number of similarities that they then have stipulate that the trees in question belong to the Pine family. However, all mentioned species belong to the tree kingdom of the Conifers! But why is that so?

Cone bearer
The word Conifer comes from the Latin word ‘Coniferae’ which means ‘Cone-bearers’. This is derived from ‘Conus’ which refers to the shape of a Cone, and from ‘Ferre’ or ‘Bher’ which means ‘Carrying’ (‘Bher’ includes the meaning of ‘fruit’ or ‘bearing’ children as in pregnancy).

In Dutch language the word ‘Cone’ is ‘Kegel’, which also refers to the shape of a cone, and in mathematics it is also called ‘Conus’, described as:

‘A geometrically elongated shape with a circle as the ground surface, ending in a point. Between the two ends of the cone is the curved mantle on the outside, and inside the central vertical axis.’

The growth, size and position of the cones differs per Conifer species. The cones are on the branches, standing or hanging on them, with the pinnacle end of the cones pointing outwards.

Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the systematic classification of the variety of organisms on Earth. This distinguishes itself in eight important taxonomic grades:

Life, Domain, Empire, Tribe, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.

Conifer in the taxonomic classification belongs to the Order of ‘Coniferales’ (being the ‘Cone-bearers’). As a descriptive plant name (which also applies to trees), the Latin designation is included as a taxonomic standard as ‘Coniferae’.

Conifers are wind bloomers. They belong to the ‘Seed Plants’ (Spermaphyta) class, in the ‘Naked Seed’ category (Clade ‘Gymnospermae’). Also, Conifers can be monoecious or dioecious. This relates to the propagation mechanism of the trees, which is represented in the cones. (More information is included in part 3 of this series of articles entitled ‘Cones and Strobili’).

Worldwide
Conifers grow largely in temperate climate zones and occur throughout the world. In subtropical and mediterranean parts of the world, trees grow in higher areas in the mountains where it is cooler. By nature and in the right climate, the trees grow together in large numbers as forests and woods, such as in the American and Canadian primeval forests, the Scandinavian countries, the German forests or the Siberian taigas.

History
In 2011, remains of Pine trees and deciduous trees were found during excavations nearby te city Utrecht in the Netherlands, which are estimated to be 1.2 million years old. This tree species therefore naturally also occurs in the Netherlands. In Belgium and Germany there are still a number of places where these remains of primeval forests occur in the layers of the ‘Tertiary Upper Pliocene’ or ‘Quaternary Lower Pleistocene’.

Lignite
These are chunks of prehistoric wood that are not completely decayed. They have  the form of brown coal, which has a red-brown color, and is also called ‘whip’, ‘spriet’, ‘lignite’ or old-fashioned ‘prits’. These chunks consist of pieces of branches and parts of tree trunks, sometimes up to half a meter long.

Even older humus layers of primeval forest layers have been further thickened, from soft peat layer to brown coal hardened, after which it has become black coal. This mineral-rich soil has a high sulfur content and has been used extensively as a fuel in the last century.

Place names
Many place names in the Netherlands still refer to the forests that once were, and the ancient woods that were originally present, such as ‘Midwoud’ in North Holland, which stands for the ‘Middlewoods’, and ‘Den Bosch’ meaning ‘The Forest’, (later called ‘s-Hertogenbosch’), in the south of the country.

Do you know of such ancient names of places and arias in your country? Even today in our warmed climate and even below sea level in the Netherlands, Conifers are doing great! Unfortunately, the forests that originated in the lower lands have all disappeared.

Backlash
This has happened historically for a variety of reasons, and in recent decades we have been able to add new factors such as population growth, intensive livestock farming and economic downturn, decline in nature due to climatic conditions (storms, floods and forest fires), overly flexible legislation on logging permits, insufficient replanting and the introduction of cultivars (for example for accelerated timber cultivation).

Future?
It is therefore perhaps for the first time in history that people have been confronted with the demand for large-scale new planting of forests. We have never had to think about it this way before! But lets hope we can do it. We might wonder how we would want our planet to look like, now and in the future?

© 2019 | Margreet Wilschut
www.margreetotto.net

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Click on the links for the next parts:

CONIFERS 1 – INTRODUCTION
Next part:

CONIFERS 2 – FUNCTION AND PURPOSE
CONIFERS 3 – LEAF AND FOLIAGE
CONIFERS 4 – CONES AND STROBILI
CONIFERS 5 – FAMILIES
CONIFERS 6 – GROWING
CONIFERS 7 – GERMINATION SEEDS

 

CONIFERS 2 – FUNCTION AND PURPOSE

CONIFERS 2 – FUNCTION AND PURPOSE

Part 2. Conifers naturally grow in forests, but can also function well as solitary trees, for example in parks, in a row of trees, or as a tall green fence. And in addition to being solitary near houses and high buildings, the trees also adorn in groups, or as a mini forest in parks and gardens. Conifers can also be planted alongside roads, and even function perfectly as a fence for an estate or agricultural land.

Trees as noise barriers, wind barriers and filter walls
As a tree wall around cities and along motorways, Conifers are the best choice for several reasons. Because the trees are evergreen, they retain certain specific functions throughout the year. In this way the trees can function as a buffer for wind and noise, but also filter possible and unwanted ‘trace chemicals’ through the dense vegetation. Such particles can be, for example, soot particles from exhaust gases, but also the microscopic wear of rubber car tires, and in addition factory sludge.

Oxygen production
Trees are also a necessity of life. Much of the oxygen we breathe comes from large forests on all continents. Due to the rotation of the Earth, the oxygen produced slowly disperses over the globe.

But with the intensive logging and the dying of oxygen-producing algae in our oceans due to water pollution, as well as forest fires on a large scale worldwide, our oxygen supply can be seriously threatened. So there can only be gained by planting trees, both in the form of forests, as well as in the form of forestry and nature-inclusive agriculture.

Nature recovery
In addition to the production of oxygen (O2), trees and forests also purify air by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), bring about soil recovery and maintain water circulation in our ecosystem. This is done through photosynthesis in the leafy green, in which sugar is formed under the influence of sunlight, which is spread through the entire bark through the bark barrels, and also reaches the roots downwards through the trunk.

Rainwater is also sucked deep from the soil by the roots, and the water transport runs upwards through the trunk to the canopy, and the water (H2O) evaporates there, depending on the temperature via the leaf green. This is therefore a self-regulating mechanism that keeps the water and oxygen cycle in balance. In this way trees also contribute to the restoration of the ethereal balance of the earth’s atmosphere.

Soil enrichment
Soil enrichment takes place because of the build-up of a humus layer and the myceleum over the years. This is partly due to the falling leaves in winter that provide the soil with nutrients. Perma culture, including the technique of pruning and spreading branches over the soil and letting waste wood lie, also enriches the soil.

Shadowing
Last but not least, tall trees catch a lot of wind, but also cast their shadow. Do not place these trees close to a house or a road. A guideline for the minimum distance could be the maximum height of the mature trees. In this way, there is less danger even when there is a storm. Logically, trees are not placed in places where you would rather want sun in their drop shadow. On the other hand, for example, food supplies stay cool in sheds that are shaded, and this is also for haystacks, compost heaps, or whatever a possible destination may be. Cattle on pastures during summer heat, thrive also very well in the partial shade.

Also consider the position of the sun. In the north and east relative to the object (in this case the tall trees), sunlight is only in the morning hours. The closer to the tall object (for example, the tall trees or the house), the longer the shade for the rest of the day.

Temperature regulation
In addition, trees and forest formation by shading under the canopy ensure that villages and towns maintain pleasant temperatures during hot summers. In the built-up area, shrubs may be a solution along roads, because they are lower and sometimes multi-rooted. Evergreen shrubs and Conifer forests therefore also provide a habitat for the animal kingdom throughout the year, and are beautiful recreational areas for humans.

Growth
Conifers grow very slowly, especially in their first years of life. Therefore, when planting young trees or for a fence, the space around them should remain free so that sufficient sunlight and water can reach the young Conifers. It must be stated though that saplings love to grow and thrive in the halfshades of taller older trees. Also mature trees thrive in the partial shade, which can be seen in overgrown authentic primeval forests of only one Conifer species.

Young trees can best be placed zigzag in front of each other at such a distance, that the final mature green crowns of all surrounding trees, which grow from all sides, and also grow towards each other, are taken into account. That is also different per Conifer species. The crown of a Norway Spruce or Italian Cypress is high but remains narrow in the shape of a green small column, while the green circumferences of a Cedar and Pine are much wider.

Green living fence
In the case of a tall green fence that is laid in several layers of other types of trees than Conifers, account must also be taken of the possible faster growth of these other species, such as shrubs and fruit trees. So make sure you have enough space.

At high age of Conifers, or after prolonged periods of persistent drought, the trunks sometimes become bare at the bottom due to the loss of a few lower branches. Many deciduous tree species also have bare trunks and no undergrowth. In the case of a fence, the resulting view at eye level can possibly be absorbed with the planting of bushes, shrubs and trees that, once fully grown, are much lower, which means that dense vegetation at human height and taller, is also present.

Recreation
Forest planting also enriches our living environment. It not only gives a pleasant green appearance all year round, but also provides an opportunity for recreation! Nothing better than a walk in the woods and soak up the blissful resinous scents that the trees spread.

Mass planting
With the new hectare management, massive forest planting will be accelerated, and perhaps the quickest, because the largest group of people imaginable, will devote themselves to it with passion, and all the available leisure time. Naturally, that can also happen immediately in the current structure of our society. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Just as an example for such a small country as the Netherlands, 1 million hectares (1,000,000 ha.) of agricultural land is made available. Both for the management of hectare units, and for small-scale farms & families. If one plants an average of 200 trees per hectare and 50 fruit trees, we arrive at a number of 200 million trees. Because 200 trees per hectare – or 250 trees, of which 50 fruit trees – times 1,000,000 ha. is a total of 200,000,000 trees!

What will it be like for your country of birth, or for the country you live in now?

Utility of wood
Needless to say, once the forests and woods have regrown worldwide, when there’s plenty of timber to build houses, furniture and numerous utensils, our world will have a total different outlook. Let us hope it is one filled with peace and joy!

© 2019 | Margreet Wilschut
www.margreetotto.net

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Click on the link for the next or previous part:

CONIFERS 1 – INTRODUCTION
CONIFERS 2 – FUNCTION AND PURPOSE
Next part:

CONIFERS 3 – LEAF AND FOLIAGE
CONIFERS 4 – CONES AND STROBILI
CONIFERS 5 – FAMILIES
CONIFERS 6 – GROWING
CONIFERS 7 – GERMINATION SEEDS

CONIFERS 3 – LEAF AND FOLIAGE

CONIFERS 3 – LEAF AND FOLIAGE

Part 3. The leaves of Conifers can be either shaped ‘wide and flat’, in the sense of a sheet of paper (with a broad or wide surface), or oblong (which in size can be either small or long). The latter can be compared with the shape of a young blade of grass, seen as an oblong object. We can call these leaves also short or long leaves depending on the treespecies.

Thus the short & long leaves of Conifers have an average in diameter of 0.04 inches to 0.11 inches (1 mm to 3 mm). The length of this type of foliage varies from approximately 0.6 inches to 6 inches (1½ cm to 15 cm). On that scale, and for the purpose of this article, the variety in lengths can be differentiated as ‘short’, ‘medium’ or ‘long’. The longleaf version is shown on the picture with this article. (Picture: Ringing Cedars Russia). This is the end of a branch of the Siberian Pine. In Latin this Conifer is named ‘Pinus Siberica’.

The ‘sheet type’ leaves with a wide surface are seen with most Cypress Conifers. But with all varieties of Conifer leaves, we could give them the common name of either ‘Conifer leaf’ or just ‘leaf’. The latter is also used for deciduous trees. The mutual differences of the leaf shapes of Conifers however, are specified separately in this article for each Conifer type.

Phyto green
All varieties of the oblong leaves, either small or long foliage, form the green coverage of the branches and sometimes trunk, which in a sense you could also view as the ‘coating’ or ‘the fur’ of the tree. The description of this leaf type with ‘needle’ is in fact not entirely correct. The leaf of the Conifer is ‘phyto’, so from plant matter. Phyto stems from the Greek words ‘phyein’ (to bring forth, make grow, that which has grown) and ‘phut(ón)’ (derived from plant matter).

Photosynthesis
But first lets have a litte bit of insight of what makes the ‘phyto’ plant material. As most of us know, this is due to the chlorophyll in the leaf, which forms the green color. This substance absorbs sunlight (as microscopically small solar cells), and is therefore an energy supplier for the process of photosynthesis. In this, carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, and water from the soil and air, serve as a supply stream for conversion to oxygen, carbohydrates (sugar) and other phytonutrients for the tree itself and the environment. Due to this process, oxygen is released to the atmosphere, together with other etherical components such as the fragrant resin odor.

Conifer leaf
Most leaves of small & longleaf pines and cedars have a bit of a woody, firm hay-like texture, but the long leaves for example are more flexible as they can slightly bend.

Conifers with wide or broad fanning leaves, are seen with all Cypress species in the Cypress family. These are usually soft in texture and very bendable. Both types of leaves are Conifer leaves.

Translation
In Dutch language, we often use the word ‘small’ for oblong, and it is also pronounced the same, but written with one ‘l’ less: ‘smal’. But the meaning of the word is slightly different. Most often we use the word to describe an object or shape which is thin and tall or oblong, but has a small width. Hence the object isn’t wide or broad. A young blade of grass or a straw would be a good example for this. But if we would describe an object as being ‘small’ compared to the opposit ‘big’, we would use the word ‘little’, which is ‘klein’ in Dutch. It was quite a puzzle to come up with a good description for all the different leaves, in the slightly altered way of categorizing them, that is.

Small-leaf and Long-leaf
Another language thing, in some cases we write word combinations together in one word. Let’s say if in Dutch language we would want to describe a Pine leaf as a ‘small leaf’ that would be possible. It would then alter in ‘smalleaf’, hence also with on ‘l’ less! In English it could supposedly be written with or without a hyphen in between, such as small-leaf or just small leaf. And the same is for long-leaf, long leaf or longleaf.

So you might sometimes find different wordcombinations in these articles, for it is just a personal preference, although many different terminologies are used nowadays when it comes to determination. Noted aside, when translating articles from Dutch to English, these are absolutely factors to consider.

Best of both
Please take into account that Dutch people often learn a 2nd language at school, and the higher educated a third or fourth, as we are a very small country, being surrounded by larger countries, all with completely different foreign languages (English, German, Belgium, French). However, in most cases one loses the skill of writing and speaking these languages in adulthood when they are not practised in daily life.

But nowadays due to the internet, it seems languages are more fusing together than before. In the Netherlands especially, English is most heard on tv and internet and in music. It is the 2nd language for many, but not all Dutch people speak or write English, and many just a little bit. And when it comes to writing articles, one has to continuously look up new words in the dictionary, both for spelling and meaning, the latter especially when an unknown professional jargon is being explored. It makes it even more confusing when similar sounding words in two different languages, can have a different meaning, sometimes even opposite!

Foliage
It is also possible to use the word small-foliage for small-leaf. In a sense, foliage is the indication of all leaves together (of one particular tree, shrub, bush or plant). The foliage of Conifers with oblong leaves grow either individually attached to the brances, as with Spruce and Fir trees, or in clusters as with the longleaf Pines, such as the Siberian Pine, or the small leaves such as from the centuries old Libanon Cedars. The foliage of the latter grow clusterd in star shapes. For all varieties of oblong Pine leaves, there are several types of clusters, namely pairs of two, three or five.

Cluster leaves
According to information on the internet, a cluster of two Pine leaves belongs to the red Pine group, a cluster of three Pine leaves to the yellow Pine group, and a cluster of five leaves belong to the white Pine group. It is not known to the author why the colors are given to the different varieties. These do not seem to be derived from the colours of the bark or wood, is it then just for the purpose of categorical classification?

Good ornamental
The long-leaves of the white Pine group grow on the branches in bundles of five. This results visually in an elongated mass, which, partly due to their length and weight, caused by their dense growth together, are draped slightly bent in an arc from the branch. To express it into a somewhat more poetic description: it creates a ‘good ornamental’ for the tree, an overall impression of an elegantly lush, richly endowed green foliage.

One more language thing, in Dutch the word for ‘leaf’ is ‘blad’. And another Dutch word for ‘blad’ is ‘loof”, which is ‘foliage’. But ‘loof’ has a double interpretation as it can also stand for ‘praise’, in the sense of admiration and respect, or to applaud something. The Dutch verb says: ‘Ik loof, wij loven’ (I praise, we praise). Therefore, we could say: ‘Loof het Loof’, which would then say ‘Praise the Foliage’. You can’t make this stuff up really. Anyway, just for fun!

Size, structure and texture
The structure and texture of the Conifer leaf can vary per family and species. Some small-leaves are only 0.6 inches short (1.5 cm), with a thickness of 0.07 inches (2 mm), firm and round or square-like in structure (can be rolled through fingers), are sharply pointed and grow from woody projections on the branch, which gives it a ‘rough’ look and feel once the leaves have fallen off. (Spruce).

Other leaves are medium sized (4 inches) or long (6 inches), sometimes more flexible, softer and flattened, can therefore not be rolled between the fingers, with a rounding at the end of the leaves which grow from a smooth bark (Fir). The taller leaves grow also from smooth bark (Pine).

From the type of leaf, the cone shape and the manner of growth of the cones on the branches, and the type of bark, one usually recognizes the family to which the Conifer belongs.

But this requires an extensive study (because there are around 600+ species) which is not the aim of this range of articles. The goal is truly a first introduction, oriëntation and valuation, and has no official educational character. If one wants to derive some decision-making from this, research for yourself and preserve the good!

Wide leaf (wide & flat sheet shape)
Conifers from the Cypress family have wide broadly spread leaves. The Cypress ‘Thuja’, for example, has a flat fanning leaf with large notches. It grows the length of the entire branch, and is thick and soft, is bendable and has a flexible texture. It distinguishes this Conifer from all other Conifers with oblong leaves (either small or long), but also from most deciduous trees, which usually have the sheet or blade type of leaves, such as Oak, Birch, Ash, Fruit- and Nut trees. In general, the size and texture of the leaves of deciduous trees, differ from those of the Conifer trees, both the oblong varieties and the wide sheet type versions.

Conifer foliage
To distinguish even further, since the Cypresses belong to the Conifers taxonomically, we can also describe its Conifer foliage more specific, e.g. as ‘Thuja leaf’ or ‘Thuja foliage’. Foliage would probably sound as a better description for the soft and elegant appearance of this type of leaf. But, ‘foliage’ can be used for all leaf types, both for the leaves of deciduous and coniferous trees, for the latter also including the small-leaf and long-leaf versions.

Therefore, one should call it according to ones own preferences, and often to name the tree is in most cases probably the best, or referring back to its Latin name. On the other hand, it would be preferable if there would be one international determination for all Conifers, instead of so many different names in different languages.

Summarizing
All Conifer families consist of cone-bearing trees, and have specific Conifer leaves. Most families in the order of Conifers have small- and long leaves or -foliage such as the Pine, Cedar and Fir and Spruce. Some other Conifers from the Cypress family have wide Conifer leaves or -foliage.

© 2019 | Margreet Wilschut
www.margreetotto.net

For the next or previous part in these series:
CONIFERS 1 – INTRODUCTION
CONIFERS 2 – FUNCTION AND PURPOSE
CONIFERS 3 – LEAF AND FOLIAGE
Next part:
CONIFERS 4 – CONES AND STROBILI
CONIFERS 5 – FAMILIES
CONIFERS 6 – GROWING
CONIFERS 7 – GERMINATION SEEDS