THE EUROPEAN LARCH 



THE European Larch is justly one of the favorite conifers for ornamental planting. 

 It is a beautiful tree, having an extraordinary grace of outline, with pendent 

 branchlets clothed through the summer with delicate tufts of slender leaves of 

 a green that varies from the lightest tints in early spring to the deep green of summer and 

 the yellow green and green yellow of autumn. Even after the leaves have fallen the tree 

 has a certain grace that renders it attractive through the winter, the drooping branches 

 being studded along their sides by short projections, from the ends of which the leaves 

 ar:se, as well as here and there by the interesting upright cones of a form and size much 

 more attractive than the cones of the American Larch. 



A little study of the branch shown at the right of the middle on the plate will give 

 a definite knowledge of the conditions of blossoming of this Larch. Along the left-hand 

 side of the twig are numerous fascicles of leaves just beginning to push out, and at the 

 bottom on the same side of the twig there is a cluster, of the pollen-bearing flowers. On 

 the opposite side the most conspicuous features are the two large clusters of seed-bearing 

 blossoms arising from a nest of developing leaves. By a comparison of these two sets of 

 flowers with the two cones shown in the picture at the left, one can readily see that the 

 former will develop into cones like the latter. 



According to Mrs. Dyson the native home of this Larch "is on the snow mountains 

 of Germany, Austria and Italy. It climbs higher than the Silver Fir, as high as the Norway 

 Spruce ; but the Spruce seems to like best the side of the mountain looking toward the 

 north and the Larch prefers the brighter southern side." 



The cones do not remain upon the trees so long after shedding the seeds as do those 

 of the Tamarack, and the tree is much better adapted to comparatively dry soils than is 

 the latter. For ornamental planting the European species has many advantages, not the 

 least of which is that it may almost always be obtained of nurserymen in any desired 

 quantity and at comparatively little expense. It is also a promising tree for forestry 

 purposes as far west as the Dakotas and Nebraska. The trees thrive best in deep, 

 light, well-drained soil in which the long roots may penetrate deeply. It is better to 

 plant these Larches for forest purposes along with other trees like Chestnut, Ash, Elm, 

 Pine, or Spruce. Two year old trees from the nursery are of best size for planting. 



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