Leaves Indeterminate. 175 



Bark, smooth and unbroken (especially when young), and 

 usually covered with "blisters." 



Cones, two to four inches long, one inch broad, erect, at 

 the sides of the branchlets ; violet-colored. Scales, 

 thin and flat, broad and rounded. The thin bracts 

 between the scales are tipped with a slender bristle. 

 The cone falls apart when ripe. 



Found, from the far North through the Northern States 

 to Pennsylvania, and along the Alleghany Mountains 

 to the high peaks of West Virginia. Common 

 northward in damp forests. 



• A slender, evergreen tree, twenty to sixty feet high ; 

 pyramid-shaped, with regular horizontal branches ; its 

 wood is very light and soft. From the " blisters," which 

 form under the bark of the jxunk and branches, the valu- 

 able Canada balsam is obtained. 



The tree is short-lived, and therefore of less value in 

 cultivation. 



Genus LARIX, Tourn. (Larch.) 



Fig. 91. — Larch, Tamarack, Hackmatack. L. laricina (Bit Roi), 



Koch. L, Americana, Michx. 



Leaves, simple ; indeterminate in position because of 

 their closeness ; arranged along the branches in 

 many-leaved bunches without sheaths. 



Leaf, thread-like, one to two inches long, withering and 

 falling in the autumn. 



Bark, smooth. 



