8 LARIX 



L, KURILENSIS, Mayr. KURILE LARCH. 

 (L. dahurica var. japonica, Maximowicz.') 



A tree up to 70 ft. high, forming- a stout trunk 2 to 2^ ft. in diameter ; 

 young shoots very downy and dark brown, the down persisting the second 

 season. Leaves ^ to I in. long, rounded at the end, very broad in propor- 

 tion to their length, of a glaucous green, and with two conspicuous stomatic 

 bands beneath. Cones about f in. long, oval-cylindrical, the scales with 

 thin, slightly bevelled, not reflexed, margins, indented about the middle. 



Native of the Kurile Islands, especially on the main island (Iturup). 

 It was at first regarded as a variety of L. dahurica, from which its broader 

 leaves and persistently downy and much darker coloured young shoots 

 well distinguish it. It was introduced to Kew in 1897, from Japan. It is 

 at present remarkable there, chiefly for its curious, thin, lanky aspect, due to 

 the scarcity of the elongated branches as compared with the short spur- 

 like ones. This is probably due to want of vigour, but it is still one of 

 the least promising of larches, probably needing colder winters and later 

 springs than obtain in S. England. 



L. LEPTOLEPIS, Endlicher. JAPANESE LARCH. 



(Gardeners' Chronicle, 1883, i., fig. 13.) 



A tree 80 to 100 ft. high, with a trunk 3 to 4 ft. thick, and (in the open) 

 a wide-spreading head of branches ; bark scaling, showing a pale grey- 



LABIX LEPTOLEPIS. 



brown surface beneath ; young shoots very downy, rich reddish brown the first 

 winter. Leaves I j to if ins. long, T ^ to ^ in. wide ; rather glaucous, flat 

 above, ridged beneath, and with two bands of stomatic lines there. Cones 

 somewhat globose, and broader in proportion to their length than those of 

 any other larch, being about I in. wide and long ; also very distinct in the thin, 

 rounded scales being markedly curved back when ripe. 



Native of Japan; introduced in 1861 by John Gould Veitch. A good 

 deal of attention has lately been given to this tree as one likely to take 

 the place of the common larch in places where that tree, through the attacks 

 of larch canker, has ceased to be profitable. Hitherto the Japanese larch 

 has been almost, although not wholly, immune from the attacks of larch 

 canker, but it is well known that newly introduced trees are not so liable 

 to disease as those softened by long cultivation, and the great proportion 

 of planted trees are quite young. It is certainly worth extensive trial under 

 forest conditions. At Dunkeld and Blair Atholl, in Perthshire, both classic 

 sites in regard to larch planting, I saw very promising plantations a few 



