Cycads

Cycad leaflets may be thick, hard, spiked, and range from bright green to greyish. Stems (trunks) of Cycads are shorter, sometimes oval or egg shaped, and sometimes subterranean.

Determining characteristics: pinnate fronds in a rosette with cone or cones in the center. Juvenile leaves form fiddleheads. Eliminating: Cycads never have palmate leaves, flowers, or fruit (like dates or coconuts).

Class: Cycadopsida

Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba is the single surviving species in the class Ginkgoopsida. A deciduous tree with distinctive fan shaped leaves which turn yellow in autumn. The leaves are connected in groups to the branch at a branch bud. Ornamental trees are always male, and the pollen cones resemble catkins. While there may be wild stands of the trees in their native China, they are only cultivated plants in our region.

Genus: Ginkgo Species: biloba

Conifers

Conifers are perennial woody plants, mostly trees. Almost all are evergreen. Their leaves are all needles, scales, or awl-shaped (sometimes a combination). Cones are usually woody but occasionally occur as leathery berry-like structures (as in Junipers), or fleshy green or red drupes (as in yews). Exceptions to these generalizations do occur, but mostly on species that are outside of our regional scope.

Class: Pinopsida

Ephedra

Ephedra are strange spiky or wiry shrubs seemingly without leaves. In fact, leaves occur at branch nodes. They are tiny, pressed or fused into the branch, and often fall off soon after forming. The stems and branches are photosynthetic (and green), and they bear colorful cones at the branch nodes. Cones are small, pretty, and can often be confused for flowers or berries.

Class: Gnetopsida