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| AMERICAN LARCH, OR TAMARACK |
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| CONES WITHOUT STALKS |
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| JAPANESE LARCH |
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| CONES (MUCH LARGER, STALKED)
Tuesday, 9:00 AM. -12 degrees F, and warmer than earlier. The sun is shining brightly and the sky is mostly blue, but there is a constant, biting SW wind. The humidity is down to 69% and the barometer is steady, at 30.25". Buddy and I are actually getting used to the frigid weather.
We had our monthly Tree Board meeting at City Hall yesterday morning and all eight members were in attendance, something of a rarity. I think everyone has cabin fever and jumps at the opportunity to get out of the house.
The larches are large, deciduous conifers of far northern regions. The American larch, or tamarack, Larix laricina, is native to much of Canada north to the Arctic, and northeastern US and the Great Lakes states. It inhabits boggy areas but also is found on drier sites and at high elevations. It has glorious fall coloration. In growth habit it is a broadly pyramidal tree of medium height. We have several in our yard, including the top photograph. It is a favorite tree of mine and unfortunately will probably grow too large for its setting.
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The Japanese larch, Larix kaempferi (synonym leptolepis) is native to the mountains of Japan and is a beautiful tree in shape and seasonal color. Pictured is one in a neighbors yard (it is obviously hardy in Bayfield) it has a more pyramidal and formal shape than our native tamarack and grows somewhat larger. I may have misidentified this tree as a European larch in a past post, but I am sure its larger, stalked old cones identify it as the Japanese species.
I particularly like the deciduous aspect of the larches, as they are an interesting contrast to other trees, both conifers and deciduous, in the winter, and their soft blue green summer foliage that turns to gold in the fall stands out in the landscape.
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