CHAPTER XXXI. 



EUROPEAN CONIFERS — {Continued). 



LARCHES. 



LARCH [Larix Europced). 



This is a deciduous tree, and is distinguished by 

 botanists from the Pines, Firs, and Cedars on account 

 of its deciduous leaves and other characters. The 

 leaves grow in clusters and spread out in a brush or 

 mop-like form, and in the spring, when quite fresh, they 

 have a beautiful light-green tint, which make them very 

 remarkable among other trees. The cones are of an 

 oblong shape, and somewhat blunt. 



The Larch is a native of the European Alps and the 

 Apennines, and is found abundantly in Russia and in 

 Siberia. It thrives in elevated and comparatively poor 

 land, and is perhaps the most profitable tree that can 

 be planted in an open, dry, moderately fresh soil, if the 

 climate is suitable. It grows at about the same rate, 

 in such situations, as the Pinus sylvestris does in more 

 fertile localities, making one inch of wood in about SJ^ 

 years, or two feet in diameter in about 130 years {vide 

 Table I., p. 45). 



In Scotland it has been planted by the Duke of 

 Athol and others in immense quantities, and it has been 



