80 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



frequently as tamarack. Hackmatack, which was the Indian name for 

 the tree in part of its eastern range, is still in use in Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, and 

 Ontario. Nurserymen call it American larch to distinguish it from other 

 larches on the market, particularly the European larch. Michaux, an 

 early French botanist who explored American forests, called it American 

 larch (Larix americana), and the name which he gave has been retained 

 by many scientists to this day. In the Canadian provinces north of the 

 Great Lakes, and also in Maine and New Brunswick, it is frequently 

 called juniper, but without good reason, for it has little of the appearance 

 and few of the qualities of the junipers. In some localities it is called 

 black larch, and in others red larch. The first name refers to the color 

 of its bark, the last to the leases when about to fall, for they then change 

 to a brown or reddish color. They fall in the autumn, and the branches 

 are bare until the next spring. Some of the New York Indians observed 

 that peculiarity of the tree which they thought should be an evergreen 

 like the balsam and pines with which it was often associated, and they 

 named it kenehtens, meaning "the leaves fall". Indians did not, as a 

 rule, give separate names to tree species, and when they did so, it was 

 because of food value, or from some peculiarity which could not fail to 

 attract the notice of a savage. 



The tamarack's geographical range is remarkable. It is said to be 

 best developed in the region east of Manitoba, but it extends southward 

 into West Virginia and northward to the land of the midnight sun. It 

 maintains its place almost to the arctic snows, and the willow is about 

 the only tree that pushes farther north. It is found from Newfoundland 

 and Labrador far down toward the mouth of the Mackenzie river, north 

 of the arctic circle. It grows on dry land as well as wet, but is oftenest 

 found in cold swamps, particularly in the southern part of its range. 

 Silted -up lakes are favorite situations, and on the made-land above old 

 beaver dams. 



Tamarack forests frequently stand on ground so soft that a pole 

 may be thrust ten feet deep in the mud. The moist, monotonous 

 sphagnum moss generally furnishes ground cover in such places. A 

 tamarack swamp in summer is cool and pleasant provided there is not 

 too much water on the ground but in winter a more desolate picture 

 can scarcely be imagined. The leafless trees appear to be dead, and 

 covered with lifeless cones; but the first warm days bring it to life. 



The average height of tamarack trees is from forty to sixty feet, 

 diameter twenty inches or less. Leaves are one-half or one and a half 

 inches long; cones one-half or three-quarter inches, and bright chestnut 

 brown at maturity. They fall when two years old. The winged seeds 



