48 WEST- A MERICAN 



Second Genus, 



TRUE LARCH OR TAMARACK. 



Trees with cones pendent on branches of the pre- 

 vious season's growth; leaves promptly deciduous. 

 Two species in Northwest America: 



No. 1 WOOlly Larch L. LyallU, Parlatore. 



Small alpine trees of the Cascade and Galton 

 Ranges, and eastward to the Rocky Mountains, at ele- 

 vations of 6,000 to 7,000 feet. Branchlets and cones 

 clothed with whitish hairs; the cones promptly decid- 

 uous a rare feature of Larch cones. 



No. 2 Western Larch L. ocddentalis, Nuttall. 



Large, usually tall trees of the Northwest, on high 

 or dry situations; peculiar for their thick bark, like 

 a Yellow Pine, and cones bristly with long, exserted 

 bracts. 



Scattered through the Selkirk and Gold Ranges, 

 thence southward along the eastern slopes of the Cas- 

 cade Range to Mt. Hood; also in the Blue Mountains 

 and on the cross ranges to the Rocky Mountains. 



The excessively thick and spongy bark of this tree 

 resists the first kindling of forest fires, hence the tree 

 is often preserved in the midst of devastation. 



