*COMMENT ~ Character notes. 
 
*CHARACTER NOTES 
#2. ~ (alternatively) is here used to indicate sometimes not
unreasonably included in or reduced to. 
#12. All woody spermatophytes, including conifers, exhibit vegetative
differentiation involving a hierarchy of dominant, relatively persistent
main shoots, and ephemeral shoots which are subject to regular self
pruning (with inter-specific variations in the patterns of dominance
bestowing upon trees and shrubs their often characteristic growth
forms). The term short-shoot as generally applied to conifers and well
exemplified in the genus \i{}Pinus\i0{} denotes a precisely specialised
lateral shoot with highly contracted internodes, bearing a pair or a
tight cluster of foliage leaves (needles), which is of limited growth
and is shed in its entirety (cf. spur-shoots of fruit trees). Some
conifers (e.g., \i{}Metasequoia\i0{}) are characterised by short-shoots
perhaps better designated phyllomorphs. 
#21-22. Potentially easily observable in transverse leaf sections, but
the data in these descriptions are currently derived entirely from the
unsatisfactory sketches in Dallimore and Jackson. 
#32. The seed-scale complexes" of the female cones of living conifers
are convincingly interpretable as derivations from specialised, radially
organized short-shoots of early fossil forms. These bore the ovules on
megasporophylls located basally, succeeded distally by sterile bracts.
In some extant forms (notably in Cupressaceae \i{}sensu stricto\i0{}),
the original seed-scale complex is so reduced that the ovules appear
to be borne directly on the bract scales, and vestiges of it remain
detectable only during early development of the cone. In other cases
(e.g., in Pinaceae), the complex is axillary to the bract, and its
origins are revealed by its anomalous vascular anatomy. Female cones in
the family Taxodiaceae display much variation regarding detectability of
the seed-scale complex, ranging from the situation in
\i{}Cunninghamia\i0{} and \i{}Taiwania\i0{}, where it has almost
disappeared, to that in \i{}Cryptomeria\i0{}, where the vestiges of
several sterile scales remain readily identifiable in the seed-scale
complex via conspicuous distal lobes representing their free apices.
\par{}\sb50{}The ovule-bearing arrangements of modern Taxaceae conform
with those of early fossils that are readily identifiable with them in
showing no evidence of such complications, and the Taxales clearly
constitute a sound, phylogenetically distinct group. 
#78. WARNING. Geographical information can facilitate pursuit of
identifications, but must be used with caution. Recorded natural
distributions may be incomplete, and numerous exotic Gymnosperms are
likely to be encountered. Identifications depending on the assumption
that specimens are native to the country in they were found may well be
wrong, and if there is room for doubt, the Intkey 'tolerance' facility
(q.v.) should be invoked. All identifications should on principle be
assiduously verified, at least with reference to the full family
descriptions and (preferably) pursued to the level of genus or species.
The illustrations accompanying the present descriptions are intended to
assist to that end. 
 
