Welcome to the Gymnosperm Database, the web's premier source of information on conifers and their allies. Since we went online on 1997, the Database has attracted worldwide attention as a readily accessible, scientifically accurate source of information on the classification, description, ecology and uses of this culturally and ecologically important group of plants. This home page gives some hints about how to navigate the Database, as well as providing background information for the curious.

There are three major sections of the site:

Species	Descriptions of all the species and higher-rank taxa of gymnosperms. For each taxon I provide information on classification, description, ecology, ethnobotany, and various other topics of interest.
Topics	Things that are not strictly tied to a particular species. For instance, pages on the gymnosperms of Australia (and other regions), the largest and oldest trees in the world, and accounts of some of my field excursions.
Bookstore	Most of the books sold here are linked through Amazon, and if you buy them through this site, the price is the same to you but some of the proceeds come to me, to help support the Database.

Shade foliage of Abies procera.

Background on the Site

The Gymnosperm Database was established as an online entity in the summer of 1997 and has since grown steadily, getting its own URL (Conifers.org) in the summer of 1999. The Database provides information for all species and higher-ranked taxa of the gymnosperms, i.e., conifers, cycads, ginkgo, and the gnetophytes. You enter the taxonomic tree at the Family level and then navigate to the Genus, Species or sometimes Variety levels. At each level, information on the taxon is provided, along with bibliographic citations that will take you to more detailed information about the taxon.

How to Use This Site

Description of Database Fields.

If you have a specific question, use the search box (top of page at right). Otherwise, I suggest you start with the Topics page, or browse the family, genus, and species accounts. The site covers conifers, ginkgo and gnetophytes (Ephedra, Gnetum, and Welwitschia) in detail. Although they are gymnosperms, in recent years I have neglected the cycads because an excellent site, the World List of Cycads, exists to provide the same sort of information that I would otherwise have to collect.

Place Names

For all nations I use the common English name (e.g., "Spain" instead of "España"), but for local names I try to use the local language if it can be done in the Roman alphabet (e.g. Nuevo León); otherwise I use a general Romanized name such as is found on Google Maps, sometimes also showing the name in the relevant local language. I try to name every nation that each species is native to. For species native to Australia, Canada, China, India, Mexico, and the United States (and sometimes other countries), I try to name every state or province that each species is native to. Abbreviations are not used. This information will help you in geographic searches. For instance, to find all the gymnosperms native to Iowa, simply type in the search term "Iowa."

Computer stuff

The Database is not a "real" database. It simply consists of a large collection of HTML files (W3C compliant HTML 4.01, put together with PHP). The benefit of this is that I spend more time writing about gymnosperms and less time programming. The drawback is that I get a lot of spam from people telling me I have to pay them to rewrite all 1500 of my pages in XTML.

Links to citations pop up an a small window, like this. Links to photos also generally pop up in a window, though a few take you offsite. Onsite links take you directly to the linked page, while offsite links open in a new browser window (or a new tab).

One consequence of the longevity of the database is that the graphics quality varies quite a bit. When I started out, everybody was working on a 640×480 pixel screen and images larger than 20 KB took forever to download. So, some of the old images on the site are quite small. Currently the site is laid out to fit a 1024-pixel width (which works well for browsers, smartphones, and hardcopy printing) and some of the pictures are over 100 KB, although pictures larger than 10 KB are only shown in pop-up windows. I entered digital photography in 2001 and the hardware has steadily improved since that time.

Appeal for volunteer assistance

People sometimes write and say, "Who writes the database?" The answer is, I do. I have assembled most of the database and done essentially all of the computer-based work: typing, scanning images, writing code, etc. Any assistance is welcome! To date I have received helpful advice from a variety of recognized taxonomic authorities, as well as information on individual taxa from persons scattered across the globe. Many visitors have sent photos or even fine art drawings of gymnosperms. In fact, I have to say that running this website has introduced me to new friends, provided opportunities to travel to memorable places, and provided opportunities to share both my writing and photography. The correspondence related to this site provides one of the greatest rewards of maintaining this site. However, if you would like to increase those rewards, you could buy some books (from Amazon.com) via my gateway/bookstore located HERE.