The largest of the non-flowering plants are the conifers. These are trees with waxy green leaves which are often shaped like needles. Most conifers are evergreen. This means that they are in leaf all through the year.

The pine is an example of a conifer. It has two kinds of cones - male cones and female cones. The male cones produce pollen in May. Each pollen grain has two little air-filled swellings that look like balloons. They help the pollen to float in the air to reach a female cone. After pollination it takes the female cone two years to make seeds. When the seeds are fully formed the cone opens and the seeds fall out. Each seed has got a wing. This catches the wind and helps the seed to be blown away from its parent so it may sprout and grow in a new spot.

Mosses are small green plants which are often found growing on rocks and fallen logs. They reproduce by making spores. When the plant is ready to reproduce it grows a stalk above its leaves. The tip of the stalk swells up and fills with spores. Inside each spore is tiny piece of a moss plant. When the spores are fully formed the spore case opens and the spores are carried away on the air currents. When a spore reaches warm, damp soil it breaks open and a new plant forms.

Ferns are much larger than mosses. They have an underground stem which sends up large feathery leaves called fronds. Bracken is an example of a fern. When the frond first appears above ground it is curled up. The stalk begins to grow first and pushes the curled up part into the air so that it looks like a shepherd's crook. Gradually the frond uncurls and spreads out. On the underside brown spore cases develop. They look like rows of buttons. Fern spores contain a tiny part of the fern plant and are released into the air like the spores of mosses. When they land in suitable conditions the spore opens and tiny fern begins to grow.

When a fungus spore opens it grows a thread into the soil and begins to feed on any rotting plant or animal remains it can find. As the thread feeds it grows side threads. In time they form a large feeding network of threads. Some of the threads grow together and push upwards through the soil and form a mushroom or toadstool. Spores form inside the cap of the mushroom or toadstool and are released into the air when the cap swells up and breaks open.