TAMARACKS

TAMARACK MALE CONES...

TAMARACK FEMALE CONE...

...WHORLS OF NEEDLES... 

...TAMARACK, FALL COLOR

Saturday, 7:00 AM.  61degrees F at the ferry dock, 54 on the back porch.  Wind light and variable.  The sky is crystal clear, the humidity 83%.  The bareometer is falling, now at 30.07", predicting rain tomorrow or Monday.  But for now it is a perfect morning.
   The American larch, or tamarack, Larix laricina, in the Pine Family (Pinaceae) is a common native tree of far northern Canada to the upper Midwest in North America.  Tamaracks'  preferred habitats are swamps and bogs but they grow in nature on much drier sites as well.
   Tamarac wood is very strong and was commonly used in the past for ship and barn timbers.  The needle foliage is very delicate in appearance, and is bright green in spring,  lush green in summer, and finally turning to glorious gold and  then bronze in the fall. New needle growth is long and pendulous, but as it matures the needles are clustered in whorls on the branches. Tamaracks are deciduous conifers, and lose their needles in fall; the branches are bare in the winter.
   Tamaracks bear cones, the tiny male cones disseminating golden yellow pollen in spring.  The diminutive female cones are red purple before they are pollinated, and look like tiny roses, no larger than a finger nail.  As they mature they bear naked seeds, which are shed as the female cones ripen and open.  As the tamarack tree grows, the fertile branches bearing female cones occur higher and higher on the tree, rendering them harder and harder to discern.
   The tamarack is one of my favorite trees, having a diverse beauty and seasonal interest that is difficult to match.  But, for better or worse, they grow very large, and are difficult to use in the residential landscape.