ADAPTATION OF CONIFERS 53 



esque appearance, quite distinct from any other pine. After 

 ten to fifteen years specimens mostly assume a yellow, sickly 

 appearance. This pine appears to be quite hardy. The cones 

 are very persistent, clinging tenaciously to the branches for 

 ten or fifteen years, perhaps longer, and are difiicult to remove. 



Larches. 



The Chinese golden-larch, Pseudolarix amahilis, is an elegant 

 ornamental tree. The branches are long and spreading and 

 very irregularly whorled, with the lower ones horizontal 

 and the upper ascending. The branchlets are yellowish-brown. 

 The leaves are deciduous, light pale green, two to three inches 

 long, in dense spire-like clusters. The foliage turns to a clear 

 deep yellow in the autumn. It requires a light, sandy, moist, 

 loamy soil to be in good condition. It is quite hardy, and the 

 oldest trees in this couittry show no signs of failing. The 

 largest trees at Highland Park are twenty-six feet tall, eighteen 

 years planted. 



The larches are deciduous conifers, but all are beautiful 

 ornamental trees. The European larch, Larix decidua, com- 

 monly distributed throughout central and northern Europe, 

 is a valuable tree for parks and private estates. The habit is 

 pyramidal and often forms a long spire-like top in adult trees. 

 The branches have a yellowish-straw color. The fine deep 

 green leaves, which when unfolding in spring have a yellowish- 

 coppery tinge and in autumn assume a yellowish-bronze color, 

 are very attractive. The European larch does very well in 

 light sandy soil and grows rapidly. 



A hybrid between Larix decidua and L. Kaempferi (L. 

 eurolepis) which appeared in Scotland, is growing rapidly in 

 the Pinetum. The young trees are still small but they are 

 making good progress. 



