<P> Members of the Araucariaceae (Araucaria, Agathis, Wollemia) have the bract and seed scales fully fused, and have only one ovule on each scale . The cones are spherical or nearly so, and large to very large, 5--30 cm diameter, and mature in 18 months; at maturity, they disintegrate to release the seeds . In Agathis, the seeds are winged and separate readily from the seed scale, but in the other two genera, the seed is wingless and fused to the scale . </P> <P> The cones of the Podocarpaceae are similar in function, though not in development, to those of the Taxaceae (q.v. below), being berry - like with the scales highly modified, evolved to attract birds into dispersing the seeds . In most of the genera, two to ten or more scales are fused together into a usually swollen, brightly coloured, soft, edible fleshy aril . Usually only one or two scales at the apex of the cone are fertile, each bearing a single wingless seed, but in Saxegothaea several scales may be fertile . The fleshy scale complex is 0.5--3 cm long, and the seeds 4--10 mm long . In some genera (e.g. Prumnopitys), the scales are minute and not fleshy, but the seed coat develops a fleshy layer instead, the cone having the appearance of one to three small plums on a central stem . The seeds have a hard coat evolved to resist digestion in the bird's stomach . </P> <P> Members of the cypress family (cypresses, arborvitae, junipers, redwoods, etc .) differ in that the bract and seed scales are fully fused, with the bract visible as no more than a small lump or spine on the scale . The botanical term galbulus (plural galbuli; from the Latin for a cypress cone) is sometimes used instead of strobilus for members of this family . The female cones have one to 20 ovules on each scale . They often have peltate scales, as opposed to the imbricate cones described above, though some have imbricate scales . The cones are usually small, 0.3--6 cm or ⁄--2 ⁄ inches long, and often spherical or nearly so, like those of Nootka cypress, while others, such as western redcedar and California incense - cedar, are narrow . The scales are arranged either spirally, or in decussate whorls of two (opposite pairs) or three, rarely four . The genera with spiral scale arrangement were often treated in a separate family (Taxodiaceae) in the past . In most of the genera, the cones are woody and the seeds have two narrow wings (one along each side of the seed), but in three genera (Platycladus, Microbiota and Juniperus), the seeds are wingless, and in Juniperus, the cones are fleshy and berry - like . </P> <Ul> <Li> <P> Spherical cone of Nootka cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) </P> </Li> <Li> <P> Long slender cones and winged seeds of California incense - cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) from the Muséum de Toulouse </P> </Li> <Li> <P> Cones and wingless seeds of Chinese arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis) from the Muséum de Toulouse </P> </Li> <Li> <P> Berry - like cones of common juniper (Juniperus communis) </P> </Li> </Ul>

Why does the male cone fall off the shoot