Pinacea

Pinacea (the "tsyuma" in Nical) is a superfamily of conifers on Pontret, comprised of five families. Some of these families are represented on Earth, such as the true pines, whilst a couple are endemic to Pontret. All have true cones with relatively simple spores.

Morphology
All members of Pinacea are large, wooden-stemmed trees. They have only a single trunk, splitting into several branches further up the tree. They also all have branching woody roots which develop and grow below ground.

Foliage
Members of pinacea have needles, although some branch out towards the tip. Members of the family nmweitlaceae have additional long, stiff spines containing additional cellulose and acting as defensive spines. These leaves grow from branches in spiral, opposite or distichous arrangements, or combinations of these layouts.

Reproduction
Pinacea's defining feature is the cone. The cones of all species extant on Pontret do not feature fruity growths. The seeds are held under cone scales until the cone matures or the cones are forcefully pried open. Pollenation is wholly wnd-based.

Evolution and Taxonomy
The first Pinacea members were brought to Pontret in the Transfer of Species and as such, some of the contained families are also found on Earth. The superefamily contains 5 families on Pontret, 4 of which are extant.

Pinaceae
The pines originated from Earth and were brought over to Pontret. They are the oldest group in Pinacea.

Sciadopityaceae
The umbrella-pines were also brought to Pontret in the Transfer of Species. They are only found on the islands comprising Ratheg.

Nmweitlaceae
From the Nical "nmweitla" meaning "of or having spines". Species in this family have evolved long, tough spines used defensively which are usually found near thew cones or periodically growing amongst the leaves. These are descended from prehistoric pines, having diverged in the mid-Triassic.

Cupressaceae
The cypresses - the same family as that on Earth. Cypresses on Pontret shared the branching foliage of Earth species. Despite their success on our planet, cyprusses died out in Pontret some 200 million years ago.

Muchanmunisuutaceae
From the Nical "mucha nmunisuut" meaning "mushroom-coned". Members of this family can be recognised by the way mutliple branches diverge from or near the truck from the same point. Also, the cones are tall with female cones having a notable wide tip, giving this family its name.

Wrong page

Swuitlasuusuyaceae
From the Nical "swuitla asuusuy" meaning "thrower of spores", this family produces touch-sensitive organs near the male cones. When something (ideally an animal) brushes past these leaf-like organs, the cone releases the spores.