Few flags depict conifers. One exception is the flag of Norfolk Island (Australia), which bears the silhouette of Araucaria heterophylla. Others are the flags of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) and the U.S. state of Maine (Pinus strobus).

Lately, cell phone towers have been trying to imitate conifers. This one in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico is trying to look like an Araucaria columnaris [R. Van Pelt, 2005.02].

Topics

Alphabetical Index of All Taxa On This Website

New! Conifer Longevity. This is the transcript of a talk I gave on 2010.06.11 at the Pinetum Blijdenstein (Netherlands), at the release of Aljos Farjon's new book, A Handbook of the World's Conifers. It discusses the biological basis of longevity in conifers, and presents some of the oldest known trees.

Database Field Descriptions

A Rationale for the Gymnosperm Database

Recent Notes on the Database
This is the 'news' page, but it's updated quite sporadically.

Review of the Gymnosperm Literature

Online Interview
with Mary Townsend, editor of Amazing Trees, a webzine

Conifers in Human Culture
This link will take you offsite to a chapter from an FAO report on nonwood forest products. Send me an email if the link ever goes dead and I'll replace it with an archive copy of the file.

Augering holes to fell the Discovery Tree, the first really big sequoia ever found, in 1852 at the Calaveras North Grove [from Tree Size Determination].

Tree Age Determination, and Roster of the Ancients
This was reprinted by the native plant societies of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.

My Favorite Trees (a work in progress).

Tree Size Determination, and A Tale of Big Tree Hunting In California

Phytophthora, one of the deadliest pathogens in the conifer world.

White Pine blister rust, one of the deadliest pathogens in the pine world.

PDF file: Forest Dynamics In A Forest-Tundra Ecotone, Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming. This is the text of my 1993 dissertation, which people sometimes request copies of. Link opens in a new window.

Anas pseudarboris, the Christmas Tree
Just for fun.

A collection of regionally focused pages:

Conifers of eastern North America

Conifers of western North America

Gymnosperms of Alta California

Conifers of Mexico

Gymnosperms of New Caledonia

Gymnosperms of Sichuan

Gymnosperms of Australia

Gymnosperms of New Zealand

Biographical sketch for Thomas Kirk, New Zealand botanist

Conifer Hunting In Central Mexico (2005)
This is mainly a travelogue with a lot of tree photos (mostly Pinus and Taxodium).

Conifer Hunting In Northern Mexico (2007)
This another travelogue. Currently it has a strong emphasis on the motorcycle trip aspect of it - this piece was written for the local BMW riders club newsletter. I'm still working on the conifer-lover's version.