THE FALSE OR CHINESE LARCH. 203 



falling off in the autumn, of a fine golden yellow. Branches, 

 exactly similar to those of the common Larch. Cones, pendu- 

 lous, three inches long, and two inches and a half wide near the 

 base, conical, with deciduous scales, diverging out at the points 

 like those on the head of the common Artichoke, and very 

 brittle when young, excessively deciduous when ripe, falling 

 asunder from the least pressure, but adhering very loosely in 

 bunches by long woody threads, one of which passes out of the 

 base of each scale to the axis of the cone, round which the 

 scales originally grew. Scales, heart-shaped, flat, woody, entire 

 on the margins, tapering gradually to an obtuse point, and 

 rather more than an inch long, with a very small sharp-pointed 

 bract at the base of each scale on the outer side, keeled on the 

 back. Seeds, in twos at the base of each scale, rather irregu- 

 larly shaped, with a soft membranaceous covering, of a whitish 

 colour, full of turpentine, enveloped on the outer side by the 

 wing. Wings, more than an inch long, broadest at the base, 

 regularly tapering to a rounded point, and of a glossy light 

 brown colour. 



A noble tree, found by Fortune in the Northern, Eastern, and 

 central provinces of China. It is the ' Seosi,' or ' Kara-Mats- 

 Momi' of the Chinese. 



It is quite hardy. 



