Evergreens –
Evergreen trees are pretty self-explanatory. They stay green year-round and most have needles for leaves. Ponderosa pines are one example, and they grow in the high mountains. Deciduous broadleaf trees can grow in cold climates too, like aspens and cottonwoods and fruit trees, but they lose their leaves and hibernate all winter.
Evergreens usually grow in poor soils. So retaining their needles year-round is much more efficient than growing new ones every year. Cones are the evergreen’s fruit, which is why they are called coniferous. The Piñon pine, a species of evergreen, has a delicious morsel in its cone – Piñon seeds. People eat them, along with squirrels and birds.
Christmas trees are always some species of evergreen – spruces, firs, and pines (you never saw anyone decorating a maple tree in December). They are the only trees with any color in winter, but more so, they are a symbol of the eternal. Eternal things that go on and on, and do not change with each the season, like evergreens.
