The Trees of Vermont 35 



PINACEAE 



Tamarack 



Larix laricina (DuRoi) Koch [Larix americaiui IMichx.] 



Habit.— A tree sometimes 80-100 feet high, with a trunk diameter 

 of 1-2 feet ; forming a broad, open, irregular crown of horizontal 

 branches. 



Leaves. — Scattered singly along the leading shoots or clustered 

 on the short lateral branchlets ; linear, with blunt apex ; rounded above, 

 keeled beneath ; about 1 inch long ; bright green ; sessile. Deciduous 

 in early autumn. 



Flowers. — May, with the leaves ; monoecious ; the staminatc 

 sessile, subglobose, yellow, composed of many short-stalked anthers 

 spirally arranged about a central axis; the pistillate oblong, short- 

 stalked, composed of orbicular, green scales (subtended by red bracts) 

 spirally arranged about a central axis. 



Fruit. — Autumn of first season, but persistent on the tree for a 

 year longer; ovoid, obtuse, light brown, short-stalked cones, ^-jK 

 inch long; seeds % inch long, with pale brown wings widest near the 

 middle. 



Winter-buds. — Small, globose, lustrous, dark red. 



Bark. — Twigs at first grayish, glaucous, later light orange-brown, 

 and finally dark brown ; red-brown and scaly on the trunk. Plate I. 



Wood. — Heavy, hard, very strong, coarse-grained, very durable, 

 light brown, with thin, nearly white sapwood. Page 219. 



Distribution. — Common throughout Vermont, except in the 

 lower Connecticut valley. 



Habitat. — Cold, deep swamps. 



Notes. — The tamarack becomes a picturesque tree in old age. It 

 grows slowly in swamps, but rapidly on well-drained soils. It is our 

 only cone-bearing tree which drops its leaves in the autumn. The 

 tamarack is an attractive, conical tree, its graceful form and full clus- 

 ters of slender, delicate leaves giving it a well-marked individuality. 

 Its deep red, fleshy cones, which open in June, resemble flower clusters. 



