PINACE.E 291 



European larch, and was for a long time thought to be immune 

 from the attacks of larch canker fungus. There is ample proof, 

 however, that it is not only attacked by this fungus, but also by 

 other diseases that affect European larch. When plantations 

 are made side by side the difference in the rate of growth in trees 

 ten years old is very marked, the Japanese species being often 

 half as tall again as the European species, with a correspondingly 

 larger girth. There is a seventeen-year-old trunk of Japanese larch 

 in the forestry museum at Kew, which is 43 ft. long, the base being 

 12 in. in diameter and the top If in. over bark. This tree was 

 grown on the Duke of Buccleuch's estate in Dumfriesshire. The 

 branch and leaf system of Japanese larch is heavier than in 

 European larch, and the trees bear rather wider spacing ; in fact, 

 they might well be placed 5|-6 ft. apart in good soil. The lower 

 branches should not be cut off before they are dead unless some 

 protective substance, such as coal-tar, be applied to the wounds. 

 The Japanese larch forms a handsome decorative tree and is 

 useful for groups in parks and mixed plantations. Several trees 

 at Kew are forty or more years old. They are growing on poor, 

 sandy soil and are similar in height and girth to European larch 

 of the same age, near them. L. leptolepis is being planted in 

 large numbers in Japan, and to meet the demand for young plants 

 large quantities of seed are collected in the southern part of 

 Honshu and in various parts of Shikoku and Kyushu,^ 



Larix Lyallii, Parlatore. 



Lyall's Larch. 



A tree up to 80 ft. in height and 12 ft. in girth in a natural 

 state, but often less than 50 ft. high and 4 ft. in girth. Bark grey 

 and scaling, or reddish brown and fissured on old trees. Branches 

 short, irregular, brittle. Young shoots covered by a felt of short 

 grey or buff hairs and encircled at the base by a ring of brown 

 scales. Buds rounded, brown, densely covered with down. 

 Leaves slender, stiff, pointed, quadrangular in section, prominently 

 keeled on both surfaces, |-1-| in. long. Male flowers about ^ in. 

 long, short-stalked, yellow. Female floivers about | in. long, with 

 long-pointed bracts which bend outwards from the middle. 

 Cones l|-2in. long and 1|^ in. wide, very shortly stalked or 

 sessile, pink when young. The bracts have long, slender points 

 which, in the mature cone, extend well beyond the scales and 

 eventually become reflexed. They are beautifully cihated or 

 fringed on the margins. Cone-scales sHghtly downy and reflexed. 

 Seeds f— re in. long, including the pale pinkish wing. 



L. Lyallii, which has been regarded as an alpine form of 

 L. occidentalis, is easily separated from other species by its 



1 Forestry oj Japan, 73 (1910). 



