26 



STUDIES OF TREES 



F 



South Atlantic and Gulf States, where it often forms 

 extensive forests to the exclusion of all other trees. In 

 those regions along the river swamps, the trees are often 

 submerged for several months of the year. 



How to tell them from each other: In summer the 

 larch may be told from the cypress by its leaves (com- 

 pare Figs. 14 and 16). In winter the two can be dis- 

 tinguished by their characteristic 

 forms. The larch is a broader tree 

 as compared with the cypress and 

 its form is more conical. The cy- 

 press is more slender and it is taller. 

 The two have been grouped together 

 in this study because they are both 

 coniferous trees and, unlike the other 

 Conifers, are both deciduous, their 

 leaves falling in October. 



THE EUROPEAN LARCH (Larix 

 europaea) 



FIG. 14. Twig of the 

 Larch in Summer. 



Distinguishing characters : Its 

 leaves, which are needle-shaped and 

 about an inch long, are borne in 

 clusters close to the twig, Fig. 14. 

 There are many leaflets to each cluster. This character- 

 istic together with the spire-like form of the crown will 

 distinguish the tree at a glance. 



Leaf: The leaves are of a light-green color but become 

 darker in the spring and in October turn yellow and drop 

 off. The cypress, which is described below, is another 

 cone-bearing tree which sheds its leaves in winter. 



