Pinopsida

(botany) A class of gymnospermous plants in the subdivision Pinicae characterized by entire-margined or slightly toothed, narrow leaves.

The largest and most important class of the division Pinophyta (Gymnospermae), the other classes being Ginkgoopsida and Cycadopsida. There are two orders: the Cordaitanthales, with three extinct families, and the Pinales (Coniferales), with six extinct families and seven families with some extant genera.

The living Pinopsida are woody plants; most are trees with a central axis and excurrent branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, or opposite or in whorls, scalelike or needlelike or rarely planar. The wood lacks vessels and usually has resin canals. Male reproductive structures are aggregated on microsporophylls directly attached to the cone axis. The ovules are borne in compound cones or singly or paired at the end of a stalk (Taxaceae). The main seed plane is tangential to the cone axis (if the seed scale is regarded as a modified dwarf shoot). The embryo has two or more cotyledons. See also Cycadopsida; Ginkgoopsida; Pinales.