1056 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



which are neither too yoiing nor too old ; and auger holes are made in dif- 

 ferent parts of the trunk, from which the turpentine flows through slender 

 tubes or gutters to a bucket at the bottom of the tree. The manna is collected 

 from the young shoots and leaves. The larch will grow rapidly upon almost 

 any soil, and in any situation, for the first 20 or 30 years ; but it is only in a 

 clear dry atmosphere, on a cold-bottomed soil, somewhat moist on the surface, 

 that its timber is brouglit to perfection. In plains, and near the sea, it grows 

 rapidly for 30 or 35 years ; but, when felled in such situations, the wood is 

 found rotten at the heart, and unfit for any purpose except fuel. This decay 

 of the wood is much aggravated when the larches are planted thick, so as to 

 expose but a small portion of their foliage to the sun, and to retain among 

 their lower branches an atmosphere surcharged with moisture. The larch will 

 grow, and become valuable timber, at a much greater elevation above the sea 

 than the Scotch pine, thriving at the height of 1800 ft. in the Highlands, 

 where the Scotch pine does not attain a timber size at a greater elevation 

 than 900 ft. In Switzerland, Kasthoffer inform us, it is found in the highest 

 perfection in soil composed of the debris of calcareous rocks, as well as in 

 granitic, argillaceous, and schistose soils. An immense mass of valuable 

 matter on the culture and uses of tiie larch, with a detailed account of the 

 Duke of Athol's plantations in the Highlands of Scotland, will be found in 

 our 1st edition, vol. iv. p. 2333. to 2399. 



S 2. L. AMERiCA^NA Michx. The American Larch. 



Identification. Michx. N. Anier Syl., 3. p. 213 



Synotiymes. Plnus /aiicina Du Roi Htirblc. ed. Pott. 9. p. 1 17. ; P. microcarpa Willd, Baum. p. 275. ; 



>4'bies microc&rpa Poir. \ Hackmatack, Ainer. ; Tamarack, by the Dutch in Kew Jersey ; E'pi- 



nette rouge, in Canada. 

 Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 153. ; Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., t. 50. ; tlie plate of this tree in 



Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our Jig. 1973. 



Spec. Char., Sfc, 

 Leaves from J 



Leaves short. Cones small, ovate-roundish, with few scales. 



in. to J in. long. Cones from ^ in. to J in. long, and from 

 1^ in. to f in. broad. A deciduous tree, with a slender trunk. North Ame- 

 rica, Newfoundland to Virginia. Height 80 ft. to 100 ft. Introduced in 1739, 

 Flowers red or yellow. Cones small, brown, or brownish red ; May. 



Varieties. None of the forms of this species can be at all compared with the 

 European larch, in point of utility, or even ornament. 



H L. a. 1 rubra. L- microcarpa Laws. Man. p. .388. ; Pinus microcarpa 

 Piirsh Fl. Amer. Sept. p. 645., Lodd. Cat. ; E'pinette rouge, Canada. 

 Tree medium-sized, upright, of a slender, conical, or pyramidal 

 habit of growth, but not so much so as in L. a. pendula. Branches 

 horizontal, or slightly pendulous, except the upper, which are rather 

 aspiring ; branchlets also pendulous, and, together with the branches, 

 more numerous and dense than those of L. a. pendula. The wood 

 is so ponderous that it will scarcely swilm in water. 



2 L. a. 2 pendula. L. pendula Laws. Man. p. 387. ; Pinus pendula Ait. 

 Hort. Kew. ed. 1. iii. p. 369.; P. intermedia Du Roi Harbk. ii. 

 p. 1 15. ; P. iarix nigra Marsh. Arb. Amer. p. 203. ; A^h\e& pendula 

 Poir. Diet. p. 514. ; Tamarack, Amer. A tree of medium size, 

 slender, and generallj' bending towards the top. Branches verti- 

 cillate, few, remote, and pendulous ; branchlets also thin, and more 

 pendulous than the branches. Bark smooth, and very dark-coloured ; 

 that on the youngest twigs of a dark purplish colour, inclining to 

 grey. Leaves like those of the common larch in shape, but rather 

 longer, ilarker in colour, and arising irom shorter and much darker- 

 coloured buds or sheaths. 



t L. a. 3 J] ro lifer a. L. proHfera Malcolm. In this variety, the axis of 

 the cones is prolonged in the form of a shoot ; a kind of monstrosity 

 or morphology which is found in all the varieties of L. americana, 

 and also, occasionally, in some species of ^i bics and Picea. 



Michaux describes the American larch as a tall slender tree, with a trunk 



