PINACEiE 473 



in spring. Buds of short shoots similar in shape with persistent 

 scales. Axillary buds rounded with short-pointed deciduous 

 scales. Leaves bright green in summer, golden in autumn, spirally 

 arranged on the long shoots, in star-shaped clusters of 15-30 

 on the short shoots, 1-2 in. long, I'j in. or less wide, pointed, 

 rounded above, keeled beneath, margins very thin, stomata in 

 two conspicuous grey bands on the under surface, resin canals 

 three. Male and female flowers on different branches of the 

 same tree, opening in May or June. Male flowers in slender, 

 cylindrical, short-stalked, nodding catkins, 20-25 together in 

 umbels at the points of short, leafless, spur-like shoots, each 

 catkin bearing about 20 yellow, two-celled anthers with winged 

 pollen grains as in Pinus. Female flowers oblong or cylindrical, 

 |-1 in. long and about \ in. in diameter when the male flowers are 

 open, terminating short, leafy branches from the points of short 

 shoots ; composed of numerous (up to 50) long-ovate scales, 

 each fertile scale bearing two ovules. Cones ovoid, erect, those of 

 mature native trees 2-3 in. long and l|-2 in. wide, those of 

 cultivated trees in Britain 10-2 in. long, resembling a miniature 

 inflorescence of a globe artichoke ; scales broadly -ovate, f-lj in. 

 long, f-f in. wide at the base, tapering to a blunt or notched 

 apex, bending sharply inwards at the base and forming a shelf- 

 like resting-place for the seeds ; woody, green or purplish during 

 summer, light brown when ripe, scurfy near the base, falling 

 with the seeds when ripe. Bract triangular, clasping the base of 

 the scale and falling with it. Orange-coloured resin sometimes 

 exudes from the scales. Seeds white, about ^ in. long and wide, 

 with a well-developed, obliquely ovate wing as long as the scale 

 and extending beyond the margins when the cones expand, 

 usually f-1^ in. long, |-| in. wide, the inner edge straight and in 

 a line with the seed, the outer edge developed beyond the seed, 

 gradually narrowing to a blunt, rounded apex ; ripening the first 

 autumn and shed as soon as ripe. Cotyledons 5-7. 



Pseudolarix is easily distinguished from Larix by its longer, 

 club-shaped short shoots with distinct annual rings and persistent 

 scales, wide leaves, and by the cones breaking when ripe. 



The golden larch is a native of E. China, where it occupies 

 a restricted area in the provinces of Chekiang and Kiangsu. 

 Fortune had noted it as a dwarfed plant in gardens during his 

 early days in China, but it was not until the autumn of 1853 that 

 he found it in a wild state near the monastery of Tsan tsin, at an 

 elevation of 1,000-1,500 ft.i Some of the trees were 120-130 ft. 

 high, with a girth of 5 ft, at 2 ft. from the ground, the trunk being 

 carried with little loss of girth to the lower branches at 50 ft. 

 above the base. A year later he was shown another group of 

 trees about 20 miles westward near Quanting monastery, on a 

 mountain slope, at 4,000 ft. altitude ; one very fine specimen 

 ^ Residence among the Chinese, 1853-1856, 274. 



