Pines (Pinaceae)

This group gathers Conifers and Other Gymnosperms subcategory members belonging to the pine family, Pinaceae, the largest conifer family by number of species and the dominant tree family of temperate and boreal forests across the Northern Hemisphere. It spans the true pines of the genus Pinus, needled in bundles of two to five and including timber and ornamental species from the ancient bristlecone pines to the fast-growing loblolly and Monterey pines, the spruces of the genus Picea and the firs of the genus Abies, both with single needles attached directly to the twig, the larches of the genus Larix, unusual among conifers for shedding their needles every autumn, the hemlocks of the genus Tsuga, the Douglas fir, which despite its common name belongs to its own genus Pseudotsuga rather than the true firs, and the true cedars of the genus Cedrus, including the cedar of Lebanon, whose name has been borrowed by many unrelated conifers in other families.