Conifer leaves

Many conifers are evergreen; that is, their leaves live for more than one year before being shed and are not all shed during the same season. Retaining leaves through winter helps conifers start up photosynthesis earlier than deciduous trees, which in spring must replace leaves lost during the previous autumn. Evergreen leaves thus provide an advantage in the short growth season of alpine or high-latitude environments. However, some conifers do lose all their leaves in the autumn. The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) of the southern U.S. floodplains, tamarack (Larix laricina) of the northern bogs, and dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) are examples of deciduous conifers.