THE COMMON LARCH. 485 



precocious bursting of the buds of the Larch takes place 

 on the southern declivities, and they consequently suffer, 

 or are killed, by the frost. In Italy it inhabits the Apen- 

 nines ; in Germany it is particularly abundant in the 

 Tyrol, and other mountainous districts, and extends east- 

 ward into Hungary. It is, however, wanting on the chain 

 of the Pyrenees, nor do the northern kingdoms of Norway, 

 Sweden, &c, prolific as they are in species of the ever- 

 green Conifera, produce the Larch. 



In its native habitats, like many of the Abietina, it 

 grows most luxuriantly, and reaches its greatest dimen- 

 sions in soils composed of the debris of, or incumbent 

 upon, the older or primary rocks, such as granite, gneiss, 

 mica slate, &c. ; rocks of a calcareous nature are also very 

 favourable to its growth. Mountain slopes, or the steep 

 and shelving sides of glens and narrow valleys, are most 

 congenial to its habit, for on these its roots are kept cool 

 and constantly refreshed by the regular percolation of mois- 

 ture, without ever being subjected to drought, and it re- 

 ceives that constant nourishment indispensable to its perfect 

 developement. It is also in such localities, where, from 

 the eddies and currents created by the varied surface, the 

 wind can seldom blow for any length of time in one direc- 

 tion, that it is much less liable to be affected by its action, 

 or to have its growth impeded, than when planted in a 

 plain and open country, where the full effect of prevalent 

 winds are severely felt, and the trees show its power, not 

 only in their diminished stature, but in their greater or less 

 deviation from an upright growth. 



In form, the Larch, like most of the Abietinte, rises 

 with a conical or pyramidal head ; the branches, which 

 are subverticillate and small in comparison to the size 

 of the trunk, spring horizontally from it, but in old trees 



