On 26th June 2008, at an evening meeting of the Linnean Society of London, the book 'A Natural History of Conifers' by Aljos Farjon FLS was launched.
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Aljos Farjon outlined the wide-ranging topics he hoped to cover in his talk and began by trying to define “conifers”, concluding that with their widespread distribution, varying morphological features and unclear phylogeny, all that could be concluded was that they all had a common unknown ancestor. To illustrate this he showed us beautiful images of the dramatically different life forms and ecosystems in which conifers featured, from tropical podocarp forests of New Caledonia to dwarf “heath-like” bushes in Western Australia, and from the huge seed cones of Araucaria to succulent “berries” of yew. He also showed us examples of plants which were not conifers, such as Gingko and Cycads.
This was followed by an account of their evolution, with 630 species distributed everywhere except Antarctica. He considered their longevity to be one element of this success, with some plants having an age of 2000-3000 years, as well as their ability to grown in marginal habitats, survive fire and imitate angiosperm fruits for dispersal. Despite the sometimes doubtful reputation of conifers in horticulture and forestry, he pointed out their dominance as wood products and many other uses for mankind. He concluded by discussing the threat to the continued survival of some conifers.
After a short discussion, the President thanked the speaker for his wider ranging review of the subject, drew attention to the availability of the book by Mr Farjon, reminded those attending of forthcoming meetings and invited all to adjourn to the Library.
A Natural History of Conifers is available to purchase online