The balsam fir is native to the North American Taiga. This medium-sized evergreen produces its first crop of upright cones when it is about 20 years old. Its seeds have wings and are transported on the wind. It can travel more than 500 feet from the mother tree.
Balsam fir needles are flat and long, about 1 1/2 inches in length. The needles and shallow roots (which only delve about 2 1/2 feet into the ground) help transport water throughout the tree.
Jack pines have adapted to growth on sandy soils in flat or hilly areas of the Taiga. The pinecones require extremely high temperatures to burst open. This usually happens during forest fires. The winged seeds are transported about 110 to 130 feet away from the parent tree by wind or gravity.
The Jack pine has a 9-foot taproot system with lateral roots to absorb water and transport it through the tree up to its waxy needles.
The tall Siberian spruce tree is another coniferous tree native to the Taiga. Like all other confers, it has pine cones and needles. The oval-shaped cones are about 3 inches long. The seeds are set within the cones and they are transported to new locations when the cones fall off the tree.
Water is transported through the tree to the long needles through shallow roots. The dull green needles conserve moisture in the tree and prevent heavy wind damage.
Peat moss grows in North American Taiga bogs. Peat moss has no true roots to transport water, but has large cells in the stems and leaves. These cells absorb up to 20 times their dry weight in water.
This Taiga plant does not produce seeds, but has spore-filled capsules that burst. New plants develop from these spores or from pieces that have broken off from larger plants. Other types of mosses also grow in the Taiga.
Many forms of lichens grow in the Taiga. Lichens are comprised of a fungus and another microorganism (usually a bacteria) that live together in a symbiotic relationship.
Lichen is drought-resistant and can survive until it acquires water through rain or snowmelt. It does not have seeds, but propagates when small pieces of the plant are broken off and moved to new sites by animals, wind or water.