PINACE.E 299 



and in its neighbourhood, where, according to Meyer, the snow 

 does not melt until well into May. Purdom remarks that in 

 the Weichang region this tree is now becoming very scarce." 



Larix sibirica, Ledebour. 

 Siberian Larch. 



Larix intermedia, Lawson ; L. archangelica ; Lawson ; L. rossica, 

 Sabine ; L. altarica, Nelson ; L. europa3a, var. sibirica, Loudon ; L. 

 decidua, var. rossica and sibirica, Resel ; Pinus intermedia, Fisher ; P. 

 Ledeboiu'ii, Endliclier ; Abies Lcdelioiirii, Rupjnccht. Russian Larch. 



A tree 80-100 ft. high, with a trunk up to 12 ft. in girth in 

 Siberia. Bark as in the European larch. Young shoots more 

 or less hairy, occasionally without down. Buds rounded or 

 conical, resinous, scales with ciliated margins. Buds of short 

 shoots surrounded by a dense ring of hairs. Leaves 1-2 in. or 

 more in length, slender, sharp-pointed, deeply keeled on the 

 under-surface. Flowers very like those of L. europcea. Cones 

 with fewer scales than in L. europcea ; scales four-sided, as long 

 as broad, upper margin rounded, thin, not bevelled, bracts hidden 

 by the scales. Seed and wing up to | in. long. 



The species is very similar to L. europcea, differing chiefly in 

 its more slender leaves, which appear about ten days earlier in 

 spring, and differently shaped cone-scales. It may, however, 

 be a geographical form of the European tree. 



It is found wild in N.E. Russia and W. Siberia, where it has 

 a very wide distribution. The Duke of Atholl introduced it to 

 Britain in 1806. 



Wood very similar to slow-grown European larch, and useful 

 for the same purposes. Siberian larch timber is said to have 

 been used for piles in Dover Harbour Works. 



Although efforts have been made to establish L sibirica under 

 forest conditions in Britain, little progress has been made owing 

 to the very 'early breaking of the leaf-buds and the crippling 

 effect of spring frost on the young shoots. In its native country 

 there is very little spring or autumn, a short, sunny summer 

 and a long, cold winter. In England the loss of a proper resting- 

 period in winter appears to enfeeble the tree. In Siberia it is 

 said to occur as small groups mixed with other trees rather than 

 as a pure forest. 



Writing of the Russian larch in 1854, Simmonds ^ says : " From 

 the boiled inner bark, mixed with rye flour, and afterwards buried 

 for a few hours in the snow, the hardy Siberian hunters prepare 

 a sort of leaven with which they supply the place of common 

 leaven when the latter is destroyed, as it frequently is, by intense 

 cold. The bark is nearly as valuable as oak bark. From the 

 inner bark the Russians manufacture fine white gloves, not 



^ Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdotn, p. 376. 



