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| Larix decidua - European Larch |
Larix decidua commonly known as European Larch is native to
Europe. It is best known deciduous conifer in Europe. The European appreciate
it as a tree graceful in form, and of airy light foliage which reflects so well
the passing of changing seasons.
L. decidua is a medium-size to large growing tree that grows
25–45 m (82 – 148 ft) in height, with a trunk up to 1 m (3.3 ft) diameter,
specifically it grows up to 55 m (180 ft) tall with 2 m (6.6 ft) diameter
trunk. The crown of the tree is looks like a conic when young and becoming
broad with age; the main branches are level to upswept, with the side branches
often pendulous.
The young terminal shoots are pendulous and long, straw
colored, shallowly furrowed, and roughened in their second season by needle
bases of the previous year. The brown winter buds at their tips have many
scales, and are non-resinous; the buds at the sides are smaller. The short spur
shoots become very dark brown, with buds that are short and rounded. The
pointed needles, 3 – 3.5 cm (1.2 – 1.5
in) long, are scattered around the young shoots (‘juvenile’ foliage), but on
the older twigs are in rosettes of twenty to thirty, all springing from a short
spur shoot. They are soft and bright emerald green at first, becoming duller
later, and fade to a pale straw color before they fall in autumn.
Both sexes of flowers are found on the same tree. The
flowers appear a little in advance of the needles. The small round males (found
on the underside of the twigs) are clusters of golden anthers when ripe. The
females are erect and usually rosy-pink – a soft conelet, which later hardens
and turns cylindrical, with brown closed scales. The cones stand erect, have
tapering outline and are 2.5-3.5 cm (1 – 1.5 in) long. They ripen by October,
and their scales open, though they persist on the tree for an indefinite time.
At first the bark is thin and greyish-brown, becoming thick,
brown (sometimes with a purplish sheen) and fissured longitudinally with age,
when it is sometimes shed in small plates. The inner layers show a carmine-red
tint. Some stems are disfigured by canker. The branches are irregular, mostly
downswept from the trunk, and then upturning. The fairly narrow sapwood is
yellowish, and the heartwood is reddish-brown. It is coarse in texture and
resinous, but strong, hard and naturally durable, providing a multi-purpose
timber, particularly used for fencing, gates, and estate repair work, also for
the planking of fishing boats.
Though a well-established tree, European Larch is not widely
planted now because Japanese and Hybrid Larch grow faster and are canker-free;
only certain strains of European Larch avoid this trouble. Yet the trees is of
rapid early growth, sometimes exceeding 60 feet in 20 years.
