1056 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 
which are neither too young nor too old; and auger holes are made in dif- 
ferent parts of the trunk, from which the turpentine flows through slender 
tubes or gutters to a bucket at the bottom of the tree. The manna is collected 
from the young shoots and leaves. The larch will grow rapidly upon almost 
any soil, and in any situation, for the first 20 or 30 years; but it is only in a 
clear dry atmosphere, on a cold-bottomed soil, somewhat moist on the surface, 
that its timber is brought to perfection. In plains, and near the sea, it grows 
rapidly for 30 or 35 years; but, when felled in such situations, the wood is 
found rotten at the heart, and unfit for any purpose except fuel. This decay 
of the wood is much aggravated when the larches are planted thick, so as to 
expose but a small portion of their foliage to the sun, and to retain among 
‘their lower branches an atmosphere surcharged with moisture. The larch will 
grow, and become valuable timber, at a much greater elevation above the sea 
than the Scotch pine, thriving at the height of 1800 ft. in the Highlands, 
where the Scotch pine does not attain a timber size at a greater elevation 
than 900 ft. In Switzerland, Kasthoffer inform us, it is found in the highest 
perfection in soil composed of the debris of calcareous rocks, as well as in 
granitic, argillaceous, and schistose soils. An immense mass of valuable 
matter on the culture and uses of the larch, with a detailed account of the 
Duke of Athol’s plantations in the Highlands of Scotland, will be found in 
our Ist edition, vol. iv. p. 2353. to 2399. 
% 2. L. america‘na Michr. The American Larch. 
Identification. Michx. N. Amer Syl., 3. p. 213 : : 
Synonymes. Pinus daricina Du Rot Harbk. ed. Pott. 2. p.117.; P. microcarpa Willd. Baum. p.275. ; 
A’bies microc&rpa Potr.; Hackmatack, Amer. ; Tamarack, by the Dutch in New Jersey ; E'pi- 
nette rouge, 7 Canada. ; ° : 
Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 153.; Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., t. 50. ; the plate of this tree in 
Arb. Brit., Ist edit., vol. viii. ; and our fig. 1973. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves short. Cones small, ovate-roundish, with few scales. 
Leaves from 3 in. to 2in. long. Cones from 3in. to 3in. long, and from 
3 in. to 4in. broad. A deciduous tree, with a slender trunk. North Ame- 
rica, Newfoundland to Virginia. Height 80 ft. to 100 ft. Introduced in 1739, 
Flowers red or yellow. Cones small, brown, or brownish red ; May. 
Varieties. None of the forms of this species can be at all compared with the 
European larch, in point of utility, or even ornament. 
€ Lia. 1 ribra. L. microcarpa Laws. Man, p.388.; Pinus microcarpa 
Pursh Fl. Amer, Sept. p. 645., Lodd. Cat.; E’pinette rouge, Canada. 
— Tree medium-sized, upright, of a slender, conical, or pyramidal 
habit of growth, but not so much so as in Z. a. péndula. Branches 
horizontal, or slightly pendulous, except the upper, which are rather 
aspiring ; branchlets also pendulous, and, together with the branches, 
more numerous and dense than those of L. a. péndula. The wood 
is so ponderous that it will scarcely swim in water. 
¥ La. 2 péndula, L. péndula Laws. Man. p. 387.; Pinus péndula Ait, 
Hort. Kew, ed. 1. iii. p. 369.; P. intermédia Du Roi Harbk. ii. 
p. 115.; P. Larix nigra Marsh. Arb. Amer. p. 203. ; Abies péndula 
Por, Dict. p. 514.; Tamarack, Amer.— A tree of medium size, 
slender, and generally bending towards the top. Branches verti- 
cillate, few, remote, and pendulous ; branchlets also thin, and more 
pendulous than the branches. Bark smooth, and very dark-coloured ; 
that on the youngest twigs of a dark purplish colour, inclining to 
grey. Leaves like those of the common larch in shape, but rather 
longer, darker in colour, and arising from shorter and much darker- 
coloured buds or sheaths. 
Lia 38 prolifera. L. prolifera Malcoln.—In this variety, the axis of 
the cones is prolonged in the form of a shoot ; a kind of monstrosity 
or morphology which is found in all the varieties of L. americdna, 
and also, occasionally, in some species of A’bies and Picea. 
Michaux describes the American larch as a tall slender tree, with a trunk 
