SOME COMMON CONIFERS AND THEIR TIMBERS 25
the Ordnance Survey), in his book The Map of England, 1932,
says: "In the very early maps the detail is sharp and the en-
graving generally excellent; though the hachuring by black
vertical strokes gave but a poor idea of the character of the
hill features. But the old editions are to be treasured, not only
for their cartographic value, but because of the interest which
attaches to an accurate hundred-year-old portrayal of the
surface of England."
Most of the above maps, with others, are in the Stratford
Museum.
Since the above was written, a hitherto unknown Map of Essex, thought to be the only
surviving copy, has been purchased for the County Record Office at Chelmsford; it was made
by John Oliver in 1696, measures 40in. x 30in. and shows much detail.
SOME COMMON CONIFERS AND THEIR TIMBERS
BY FRANK W. JANE, PH.D., D.SC., F.L.S.
[Read November 24th, 1945]
IN her presidential address to our Club in 1920, "On
Conifers grown in suburban gardens," Miss G. Lister
remarked: "I have not touched on the subject of the more
intimate structure of the leaves, the stem and the cones, all of
which seem to call for attention." It does not appear that
these subjects have occupied any space in the Essex Naturalist
since that date and this paper will serve, in part, to redress that
omission, by treating of the stems, or rather the secondary wood,
of some of the conifers commonly seen in Britain.
Wood of coniferous trees has special characteristics which
distinguish it from that of broad-leaved trees. It has no vessels
or fibres, and is composed mainly of long, pointed cells—
tracheids—which, in the living tree, serve to conduct water to
the leaves and to support the tree. In the timber trade coniferous
woods are termed softwoods, those of broad-leaved trees hard-
woods; it must not be supposed that these names refer to the
physical condition of the wood, although many softwoods are
of a soft texture; on the contrary, a softwood like yew is hard
and heavy, certainly more so than many hardwoods. We need
not deal here with the anatomical features of coniferous timbers,
but it may be mentioned that those of most genera can be
identified with reasonable certainty with the aid of the microscope:
in fact, there are a few people who could use this means to
diagnose a genus, although unable to recognise the trees in the