VLVL2 (15): black conifers

[Tim Strzechowski]

383.18:  "That was the story, and nearly all she'd cared to send them back out with at the end of that visit -- the year the no-sex clause didn't get rolled over, the first year. as black conifers rose behind them into the cloud cover and gone, that it didn't feel like a descent [...]"


A conifer is a type of tree or shrub characterised by needle-like leaves and bearing reproductive structures called cones. Conifers were once classified as an order (Order Coniferales) within the Class Gymnospermae. In the modern classification scheme (see Kingdom Plantae), the order has been raised to that of a phylum or division. The rules of taxonomic nomenclature require that taxa bear the name of the type genus (in this case Pinus). Thus, the correct name becomes Division Pinophyta, though conifer remains a widely used common name for plants in this division. 
Most conifers are evergreen, although some, like larches, Bald cypress and Dawn redwood are deciduous. Typical conifers include the cypresses, pines, cedars, spruces, Douglas-firs, firs and yews. Conifers are commonly (and unscientifically) called evergreens, but many non-coniferous plants such as holly and citrus are evergreen as well. Conifers, widely used for wood products, are also called, as a group, softwoods.

http://www.free-definition.com/Conifer.html


Regarding Dantean "descent," and dovetailing with Umberto's earlier post:

http://www.atsweb.neu.edu/uc/s.cassavant/DanteOut.html


And for anyone vacationing in Arizona this summer (oh Vincent??):

"Dante's Descent (a.k.a. Devils Hole), is a natural sinkhole located 200 miles Southeast of Las Vegas. Dante's Descent is approximately 15 miles northwest of Ash Fork, Arizona which is midway between Kingman, AZ and Flagstaff, AZ. The sinkhole is a circular vertical cavern with an opening measuring approximately 60 x 80 feet and has a vertical drop of about 380 feet." [...]

http://www2.intermind.net/~speleo/atv/dantes/

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