260 PINUS LARIX 



woody, and tough, greatly enlarged to twice the length of the 

 bracts, orbicular, striate, spreading, somewhat wavy at the margin 

 where they become thin. Seeds 2, in the hollowed-out base of 

 each scale, somewhat triangular, with a large thin wing, straight 

 along inner margin, and rounded on the outer, embryo straight 

 in axis of the endosperm, polycotyledonous. 



Habitat. This well-known tree forms extensive woods in the 

 mountain regions of Central Europe, where it ascends to an 

 altitude of over 5000 feet above the sea : in the Apennines it is 

 always a cultivated tree. In this country the Larch is largely 

 grown in plantations, and is very ornamental in the spring, the 

 young leaves being of an intensely bright green. It flowers in 

 April and May. 



Parlatore, in DO., 1. c., p. 411 ; London, Arboret. Brit., iv, p. 2350 ; 

 Lindl., PI. Med., p. 554. 



Official Part and Name. LARICIS CORTEX ; the bark, deprived 

 of its outer layer, of Larix europaBa, DC. (B. P. Additions, 1874). 

 It is not official in either the Pharmacopoeia of India, or the Phar- 

 macopoeia of the United States. 



Preparation. Larch bark should be obtained in spring; and 

 after the external rough portion has been removed, the remainder, 

 consisting of the inner bark, middle bark, and a variable portion 

 of the outer bark, should be quickly dried. This constitutes the 

 official bark of the British Pharmacopoeia. 



General Characters and Composition. Larch bark is generally 

 found in flattish pieces, or sometimes in quills. The pieces and 

 quills vary much in length and thickness. The outer surface 

 has a dark red or rosy colour, with frequently intervening whitish 

 portions of liber, and presents a more or less uneven character ; 

 the inner surface is smooth, yellowish- white in colour in the 

 larger pieces, and pinkish-red in the smaller quills, and may be 

 readily separated into layers. Larch bark breaks with a close 

 fracture, except as regards the liber, which is somewhat tough 

 and fibrous; and the fractured surface, except that of the liber, 

 has a deep carmine-red colour. It has a slightly balsamic tere- 

 binthinous odour ; and an astringent taste. 



