Glossary term
What is Conifer?
Short answer
A conifer is a tree that makes seeds in cones and usually has needles or scale-like leaves.
Conifer, explained for tree service owners
A conifer is a cone-bearing tree, such as pine, spruce, fir, cedar or hemlock. Most have needles or small scales instead of broad leaves, and most are evergreen, though a few, such as bald cypress, drop their needles in fall. Many conifers have a single strong central trunk and a cone-like shape. For a tree service owner, conifers matter because they often need different care. Many do not sprout well from old bare wood, so cutting back into a branch with no green needles may not regrow. They also carry pitch that can gum up saws and give off strong smell, and some are hit by their own pests, such as bark beetles. Explain this to customers up front.
Related terms
- Buttress roots
Buttress roots are wide, thick roots at the base of a trunk that help hold a tree upright.
- Cambium
Cambium is the thin layer of living cells just under the bark that makes new wood inward and new bark outward each year.
- Canopy
Canopy is the layer of branches and leaves formed by the crowns of a tree or of many trees together.
- Crown
Crown is the upper part of a tree made of branches, twigs and leaves, growing from the trunk.
- Evergreen tree
An evergreen tree is a tree that keeps green leaves or needles all year and replaces them gradually.
- Excurrent form
Excurrent form is a tree shape with one strong central trunk and side branches, like a pine or spruce.
- Girdling root
A girdling root is a root that circles the trunk or another root and slowly squeezes it.
- Root flare
Root flare is the widened base of a trunk where it meets the roots at the soil line.
More terms, A to Z
All 199 glossary terms This term in the A-Z list Learn by topic Our services Pricing
Want to know how your company does on this?
Get a free 5-minute audit of your phone, website and Google profile. We check what you can see from the outside, in plain English. No call needed.
Get my free 5-minute audit