 Deciduous trees drop their leaves in autumn. Coniferous trees, however, are defined by their use of cones to reproduce. Most coniferous tres have needles or scale-like leaves instead of conventional leaves, and retain these during winter; we call these evergreens. A few coniferous trees, however, do drop their needles in the fall, like larches and bald cypress, which means these coniferous trees are also deciduous! They're coniferous because they have cones, and deciduous because they drop their needles! Let's look at the majority of conifers that keep their needles in winter, the evergreens. There are a variety of them native to western Canada, including:
Like all conifers, they reproduce using cones. Conifers are classified as gymnosperms, which means their seeds are not contained in fruit. The cones that do contain the seeds come in two varieties: the female cones produce seeds, while the male cones produce pollen. 
The individual plates of a cone are called scales. The scales protect the seeds from animals and weather until the seeds are mature and ready to be released. Most mature cones are closed when wet and open when dry. This helps ensure that the seeds are dispersed during dry weather, which increases the distance they can travel from the parent tree. Conifer seeds can be dispersed by animals, wind, water, people, and fire. 
 A closed pinecone, an open one, and an open one with seeds Conifers are used for many things, including:
 Black Spruce Lodgepole Pine 
 Western Red Cedar Douglas Fir |