1 
O1 
The Species of the Genus Larix. 
leaves is reminiscent of the West-Siberian Larch, which, 
in the coneless state, is most easily distinguishable from 
L. decidua by the scent of dried specimens, absent in the 
case of the latter, as mentioned under L. sibirica. The young 
shoots are smooth and yellowish, the leaves 2—3 cms. 
long, of a fresh, green colour. The bracts, which are of a 
deep purple-red are, during the flowering season, much 
longer than the green, or faintly red, cone-scales, which 
they entirely cover. This purple-red colour is absent from 
the bracts only in exceptional cases, the whole female cone 
being then green or whitish instead. The last-mentioned 
form (flore albo, Loudon, 1838) is found in Wallis, the 
Engadine, and in the neighbourhood of Flühelen in Switzer- 
land (Curist: 1. c. p. 225; AscH. & GRAEB. I. c. p. 314). The 
cone is long and cylindrical, consisting of a large number 
of scales — 30 to 40 — and is generally 2,5—4 cms. long, 
but specimens as long as 6 cms. have been collected by 
Coaz in the Münster valley at Graubünden (BEıssnEr: 1909, 
p. 312, Note). The cone-scales are straight and thin at the 
free margin, which is broad and rounded, or slightly 
incurved. The seed-wings are as long as the cone-scales, 
and reach their extreme edges, so that they are, relatively, 
a trifle longer than in the case of L. sibirica. The exterior 
of the cone-scales is smooth or pilose, but seldom so pro- 
nounced as in the case of L. sibirica, and the bracts of the 
mature cone are visible at the extreme base of the cone, 
being wholly covered on the other parts. 
During the younger period of growth, the tree is pyra- 
midal in shape, but the appearance becomes less pronounced 
the older it becomes. The bark of old trees becomes furrowed, 
and sheds in larger or smaller plates, thus exposing por- 
tions of the reddish-brown inner bark. The heart-wood is 
