The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 12 extant division-level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae (Viridiplantae) and 10 within the extant land plants. Pinophytes are gymnosperms, cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue. All extant conifers are woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. As of 1998, the division was estimated to contain eight families, 68 genera, and 629 living species.
Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers have immense ecological importance. They are the dominant plants over huge areas of land, most notably the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, but also in similar cool climates in mountains further south. Boreal conifers have many wintertime adaptations. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, help them shed snow. Many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing. While tropical rainforests have more biodiversity and turnover, the immense conifer forests of the world represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink.
A needle is generally a thin, cylindrical object, often with a sharp point on the end.
Needle may refer to:
Needle (I11) is a Dungeons & Dragons module. Author: Frank Mentzer (1987)
In Needle, the player characters are dispatched to a far jungle to retrieve a magical obelisk. The characters return to their employers with the obelisk after a perilous journey, and find out that the obelisk is a portal to another world, which the characters must pass through and learn how to deal with the residents on the other side.
In this adventure, the player characters volunteer for a king to explore a dense jungle that was once home to a great civilization, with a magic obelisk at its center. In Part 1, Ruins of Empire, the party travels to the jungle and explores the ruins. In Part 2, Retrieval, the party leads a team hampered by disease and jungle animals to transport the obelisk to the king. In Part 3, The Powers That Be, assuming the party is successful, the obelisk is placed in its new position, where it reveals a gate to another world.
The Needle is a comic book character. He is a mutant supervillain in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by Mark Gruenwald, Carmine Infantino, and Al Gordon, the character first appeared in Spider-Woman #9 (December 1978).
The character's origin was recounted in his debut appearance in Spider-Woman #9.
Creator Mark Gruenwald brought the character back during his run on the West Coast Avengers as a member of the villain team Night Shift, which included other former Spider-Woman foes.
After being mugged one night while leaving work, Josef Saint, an elderly tailor, lost an eye and his ability to speak. While recuperating, he discovered that he has the power to paralyze with his gaze. Seeking revenge, Saint assumed the guise of the vigilante the Needle. Armed with a yard-long needle, the mute villain attacked young men on the streets at night, sewing their mouths shut. After victimizing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jerry Hunt, the Needle incurred the wrath of Spider-Woman, the agent's girlfriend, and she took him out with a close-range venom blast. He was subsequently arrested.