Late in fall and through winter, I enjoy the beauties of coniferous trees whenever I'm driving around in the Middle Atlantic States. As the colored deciduous leaves fall late in autumn, it's like a veil dropped from their trees, better revealing the beautiful green needles of conifers of various kinds, most of which are planted on lawns in this area.
There are some wild, native conifers in this area, but never in abundance. They include white pines and pitch pines on mountain tops, eastern hemlocks in cool, shaded ravines, red junipers in abandoned fields and roadsides, scrub pine in areas of thin, barren soil, and table mountain pines on rocky slopes along the Susquehanna River.
Most coniferous trees in this region, however, were planted on lawns in suburban areas, city back yards, and on golf courses, parks and other properties. They were planted for their handsome shapes and attractive, green needles, which are particularly lovely in winter when there is little other green at times in the suburbs and on lawns. The most commonly planted evergreens planted here in arbitrary order of abundance are Norway spruces, white pines, northern white cedars (arborvitae), hemlocks, yews, Douglas firs, blue spruces and red spruces.
Whether the conifers are wild or planted, we can experience them in several ways. We hear wind sighing or singing through their needles, a lovely, melancholy sound. We can see their many beauties and smell their wonderful, "piney" smells.
Norway spruces, originally from Europe, are magnificently shaped, most commonly planted because they don't snap off easily in high winds and they seem resistant to diseases. Limbs on tall trees sweep down and out gracefully, then up at the tips. And this is a majestic species at dusk when their dark needles are silhouetted against the sunset and gathering darkness.
The younger needles of blue spruces, from the American west, have a bluish tinge, adding to the beauty of this type of evergreen. Blue spruces planted in open areas have needled branches that reach to the ground, creating an beautiful, needled umbrella-like effect.
White pines are interesting evergreens in several ways. They are the only pine species that has five needles in a bundle. Their needles are long, flexible and soft. And when those needles fall dead and brown to the ground under their trees, they produce soft, fragrant carpets that are so neat to lie on, or in. Their limbs grow in whorls around their trunks at about two-foot intervals, which is a way to estimate the age of a tree without cutting it down to count rings of growth in the wood. Unfortunately, white pines break off easily in strong winds.
Northern white cedars, which are native to northeastern North America, have dense foliage, and, when planted in rows, can develop living fences. Their needles are flattened and this kind of tree has a lovely shape. All these traits lend to this plant being commonly planted on lawns.
Yews, which are from Asia, have deep-green foliage and red "berries", each with a brown nut inside the red, sticky pulp. When ripe, the nut falls out of the opening on the bottom of the fruit. The greatest beauty of this tree or shrub is the contrast between the needles and the berries. And a variety of birds ingest those fruits.
Red junipers have pyramidal shapes and quarter-inch, pale-blue cones that look like berries. But with close examination, one can see the faint lines of scales. These "berries" are also eaten by rodents and small birds.
But most coniferous trees have attractive, brown cones that range in length from a half inch on hemlocks to about seven inches on Norway spruces. Seeds develop in the cones when they are green and alive, but when those seeds are ripe, the cones die, turn a shade of brown and open their many scales to release their seeds into the wind. Each small, brown seed has a thin wing that allows the seed to be carried off with the wind to a location on the ground away from their parent trees. If not eaten by small birds and rodents, some of those seeds will sprout into young trees. The cones eventually fall to the ground, too, where they are as decorative as in the trees.
Many cones, particularly those on white pines, are often splattered with whitish sap from injuries in twigs and bark. Those cones also have a stronger fragrance from the sticky sap on them. White-footed mice, deer mice, and a variety of small birds, including two kinds of crossbills, pine siskins, American goldfinches, dark-eyed juncos and two species of chickadees eat the seeds of cones. Some of those birds even hang up-side-down on the cones to get the seeds. Or those birds consume coniferous seeds from the ground where they fell. Either, way, these birds add their beauties to those of the cones and the evergreens near them.
Squirrels and several species of birds find shelter in the needled boughs of conifers both day and night. Several kinds of owls rest by day in evergreens where they are relatively safe from the harassment of small birds that would heckle them when they find them. Owls need their rest to be able to hunt efficiently the next night.
Mourning doves, a small variety of hawks and some kinds of little birds, including juncos, American robins and other species, retire into conifers during winter evenings and stay in them through the night. The needled, tightly-packed branches block cold winds and shelter those birds from predators.
Yes, I enjoy experiencing coniferous trees, particularly in winter when they are most visible. And I enjoy the creatures that benefit from those trees, both wild and planted.
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