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This page covers the conifers (class Pinopsida). For the background to this list see parent article List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland. All are part of the order Pinales. Status key: * indicates an introduced species and e indicates an extinct species.
An endemic species is a plant only native to a certain area. Outside this area, unless spread naturally it is considered non-native, usually as a result of cultivation. Britain and Ireland have few endemic trees, most being micro-species of Whitebeam .
Conifers are the largest and economically most important component group of gymnosperms, but nevertheless they comprise only one of the four groups. The division Pinophyta consists of just one class, Pinopsida, which includes both living and fossil taxa. Subdivision of the living conifers into two or more orders has been proposed from time to time.
The UK's industry and populace uses at least 50 million tonnes of timber a year. More than 75% of this is softwood, and British forests cannot supply the demand; in fact, less than 10% of the timber used in Britain is home-grown. Paper and paper products make up more than half the wood consumed in Britain by volume. [3] [9] [10]
Cupressaceae is a widely distributed conifer family, with a near-global range in all continents except for Antarctica, stretching from 70°N in arctic Norway (Juniperus communis) [3] to 55°S in southernmost Chile (Pilgerodendron uviferum), further south than any other conifer species. [4] Juniperus indica reaches 4930 m altitude in Tibet. [5]
List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland (conifers) covers the conifers ; The remaining parts cover the flowering plants (Magnoliopsida): List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland (dicotyledons) List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland (Rosaceae), covering the dicotyledon family Rosaceae
The term Pinophyta has also been used to include all conifers, extinct and extant, with Pinales representing all the extant conifers. [ 29 ] Christenhusz and colleagues extended the system of Chase and Reveal [ 19 ] to provide a revised classification of gymnosperms in 2011, based on the above four subclades . [ 2 ]
The great majority of conifer genera and species are evergreen, retaining their leaves for several (2–40) years before falling, but unusual deciduous conifers occur in five genera (Larix, Pseudolarix, Glyptostrobus, Metasequoia and Taxodium), shedding their leaves in autumn and leafless through the winter.