The angiosperms or ‘enclosed seeds’ are the ones that don’t lose their leaves. Also known as conifers, these trees remain green even in fall and winter. At the mention of conifers, most people think of pines. But cedar, spruce and fir also number among the conifers. So don’t assume that every conifer you see is a pine!

Now for a few clues to help you distinguish these trees. Used thousands of years ago to build palaces and temples owing to its high quality and pleasant scent, the cedar, whose resin was also used for mummies, sprouts clusters of 15-30 needles each. The fir on the other hand sprouts single needles in a spiral. If you turn the flat needle over, you’ll see two white lines on the underside. Its cones too stand straight up in the air. While the fir can grow in shade, the cedar thrives only in light. The needles of the spruce, a tree that grows very tall, are prismatic in shape.