PINACE^ 283 



Leaves of long shoots up to 1| in. long, narrow, pointed or blunt, 

 those of the short shoots 30-40 together, 1-1 2 ^^- lo^^g' narrower 

 and blunter than those of the long shoots, both kinds keeled 

 below, soft, light green turning yellow in autumn. Flowers 

 produced a httle in advance of the leaves, during March at Kew, 

 in April in later districts. Male flowers round, flattened, ?— > in. 

 long, \ in. across, surrounded by thin bracts with fimbriated 

 margins. Female flowers reddish or sometimes white, attractive, 

 ■|-72- in. long, the bracts more conspicuous than the scales, bright 

 red or occasionally white, with a narrow, central green band 

 ending in a long, slender tip, the upper part bending outwards. 

 The inflorescence is surrounded by short green leaves, and the 

 whole by a circle of thin brown, fringed scales. Cone ovoid, 

 1-1 1 in. long, |-1 in. wide ; scales rounded and entire above, 

 striated, margin sometimes wavy, \-\ in. long and broad, covered 

 on the outer surface with soft brown down, almost concealing 

 the bracts, of which the point to-tV in. long can be seen. Seeds 

 about \ in. long, with a wing several times larger, up to |^ in. long 

 and \ in. wide, ripening the first year and shed in autumn or 

 early the followmg spring, the empty cones remaining on the 

 tree for an indefinite period. 



The European larch is distinguished from the Japanese larch 

 by its greyish bark, green, not glaucous-green leaves, and by its 

 erect, not reflexed, cone-scales. 



It is distributed through the Alps of Cent. Europe to N. 

 Russia and Siberia, where it gives place to L. sibirica, a doubtfully 

 distinct tree. L. eurojJcea was introduced late in the sixteenth 

 or early in the seventeenth century (before 1629). It was first 

 planted extensively as a forest tree by the Duke of Atholl between 

 1774 and 1829. Michie^ records that the first plants purchased 

 at that time cost sixpence each and that it was only possible to 

 procure 270,000 plants between 1774 and 1783. After 1870 the 

 price fell to 355. per thousand. 



Wood hard, coarse-grained, durable even in contact with the 

 ground, heartwood red or occasionally yellowish, sapwood 

 yellow, narrow. The timber matures early, that of trees 40 

 years old being of excellent quahty, commanding a regular 

 average price of about Is. per cubic foot. It is very extensively 

 used for telegraph and telephone poles, railway sleepers, pit 

 props, rustic work, ship and barge-building, house construction, 

 piles, fencing and gates. Although less inflammable than many 

 coniferous woods, it forms good heating fuel, but has the defect 

 of throwing out sparks. It ranks high as a charcoal wood. In 

 view of its great value for telegraph and telephone poles, a copy 

 of a memorandum^ on specifications for telegraph poles for the 

 British Post Office is appended : 



1 The Larch, p. 57 (1885). - Trans. Roy. Scot. Arb. Soc. xxix, p. 91 (1915). 



