1 | Leaves spirally attached, sometimes distichous. |
1' | Leaves decussate, often distichous. |
2 | Leaves (needles) in bundles of 2-3 with a basal sheath (Pinus) |
2' | Leaves not in bundles with a basal sheath. |
3 | Leaves needle-like or scale-like. |
3' | Leaves distinctly flattened and often broad. |
4 | Leaves scale-like (Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium) |
4' | Leaves needle-like, triangular or quadrangular in cross-section. |
5 | Tree with a very dominant primary trunk with regularly placed whorls of lateral branches. Seeds dry, in large bracteate cones (Araucaria cunninghamii) |
5' | Tree quite irregularly branched. Seeds few, in reduced cones (Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Falcatifolium) |
6 | Leaves bifacially flattened, linear, less than 2.5 mm wide, with a basal constriction (Taxus) |
6' | Leaves if linear either bilaterally flattened, or more than 2.5 mm wide, or without a basal constriction (Dacrycarpus, Falcatifolium, Phyllocladus, Podocarpus, Prumnopitys) |
7 | Leaves scale-like (Libocedrus) |
7' | Leaves broad and many-veined. |
8 | Leaves sessile, clasping, lanceate from a broad base (Araucaria hunsteinii) |
8' | Leaves broad, not with a stem-clasping base. |
9 | Terminal bud hemispherical (Agathis) |
9' | Terminal bud acute (Nageia) |