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Botany - Differences between Evergreen and Conifers
Overview
Often times we associate ‘evergreen’ with ‘conifer’, however that might not be the case.
Let’s have a look shall we?
Definitions:
Evergreen
Evergreen essentially just means trees or shrubs that do not shed their leaves during a certain period. Much unlike annual, biennial and perennial plants, that shed their leaves once every year, 2 years and 2< years respectively.
Coniferous
Coniferous trees generically have needle-like leaves, can be classified as gymnosperms.
The main characteristic that all conifers have is that they reproduce via cones.
Cases:
Here we will have a set of examples of conifers that aren’t evergreen.
Larch (Golden Larch)
a larch, source: wikipedia
Larches are coniferous dedicous trees (shed their leaves during a certain period).
Often found in Nothern and borreal regions.
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
a bald cypress swamp, source: wikipedia
Bald cypresses are also coniferous dedicious trees often found in swamps.
They are native to Southern shores of North America.
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
A Dawn Redwood, source: wikipedia
Under the genus Metasequoia, this dedicous conifer has the same subfamily as coast redwood.
They are native to places like China and Certain parts of America.
Conclusion
Although most coniferous trees are evergreen, not all can be classified as evergreen.
So the next time you say “conifers are evergreens”, please correct yourself. Please?