Trees, occasionally shrubs, evergreen (annually deciduous in Larix and Pseudolarix), resinous and aromatic, monoecious Lateral branches well developed and similar to leading (long) shoots, or reduced to well-defined short (spur) shoots (larix, pseudolarix, cedrus) or dwarf shoots (pinus); twigs terete, sometimes clothed by pursistant primary leaves or leaf bases; longest internotes between leave less than one centimeter; buds conspicuous. Roods are fibrous to woody, unspecialized, commonly with an ectomycorrhiza.
Distribution
The Northern Hemisphere: south to the West Indies, Central-America, China, Japan, Indonesia (one species Pinus merkusii, crosses the equator in sumatra), himalaya and north africa.
The family is dominant in the vegetation of large regions including ( in north america) forests of the boreal and pacific regions, the western mountains, and the south eastern coastal plain. Various species, most commonly pinus radiata, have been widely introduced for timber production in subsaharen africa, south america, new zealand and australia.
Floral characters
Monoecious. Microsporangiate strobili with spirally arranged, bilateraly symetrical microsporophylls surface; pollen granes with two saccae (saccae absent in larix, pseudotsuga, and all but two species of Tsuga) and 2 prothallial cells.
Leaf characters
Leaves simple, shed singly (whole fascicles shed in pinus), alternate and spirally arranged but sometimes twisted at the base so as to appear one or two ranked, or fascicled, linear to needlelike, sessile to short-petiolate; foliage leaves either borne singly (spirally) on long shoots or in tufts (fascicles) on short shoots; juvenile leaves (when present) borne on long shoots; resin canels present.
Stipules
absent
Fruit characters
male cones small, herbaceous, with spirally arranged microsporophylls each with two pollen-sacs abaxially; female cones are usually woody, with spirally arranged scales, each usually with two ovulea adaxially and subtended by a united bract; seeds usually two per scale and winged. Emryo with several cotyledons
Glands
absent
Hairs
absent
Latex
absent
Uses
Most species are used in timber production Ingredients are used for medical products.
Chemical characters
Includes terpenes, etherical oils, caren, pinen, phellandren; resin
Distribution maps
(online von http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/ . Dort zitiert wie unter jedem Diagramm vermerkt):
