60 Illustrations of Conifers. 



LARIX OCCIDENTALIS (NuttaU). WESTERN LARCH. 



Oardeners' Chronicle, Vol. XXV. p. 652 (1886), with fig. 



Veitch's Man. Conif. ed. 2, p. 400 (1900). 



Trees of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. II. p. 895 (1907). 



2.6Q~ 



A TALL tree which attains in America a height of 160 to 180 feet with 

 a trunk sometimes 20 feet in girth. Bark dark brown becoming 

 very thick and fissured in old specimens. 



Young branchlets minutely pubescent, with long hairs in the 

 grooves, shining brown in the second year. Leaves pale green up 

 to If inches long, rounded on the back, keeled beneath, with lines of 

 stomata on both surfaces. 



Cones ovoid, obtuse, 1 j to 2 inches long ; scales sub-orbicular ; 

 bracts terminating in long bristle-like tips which are much longer 

 than the scales. Seed wing inch long or more. 



Larix occidentalis is confined to the wetter part of the region 

 which extends from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in 

 British Columbia and Montana to the eastern slope of the Cascade 

 Mountains in Washington and Oregon. It has a vertical range from 

 3,000 to 6,000 feet, where it is usually found mixed with other con- 

 niferous trees. It was discovered by Douglas on the upper Columbia 

 river in 1826, but was only introduced into cultivation in 1881 when 

 seedlings were sent to the Arnold Arboretum. It is very scarce in 

 England only a few trees being known. 



According to Professor Sargent the timber of the western larch 

 is very valuable, being strong, durable and free of knots. It is used 

 for general building purposes, and being straight grained and easily 

 worked, is also employed for inside decoration, panelling and furni- 

 ture. 



Young plants raised at Colesborne were added to the Bayfordbury 

 collection in 1906. The cones figured were grown at Kew. 



