6 BULLETIN 680, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



River in the vicinity of Fort Colville, northeastern Washington, in 1 827, 

 although he believed it to be Larix europaea. It was not, however, 

 until 1834 that the western larch was really recognized as a new and 

 undescribed species, Thomas Nuttall having discovered the tree 

 at that time in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. Later, 

 in 1849, he described and named it Larix occidentalis. Since then, 

 the history of western larch has been practically free from confusion, 

 but one other name ("Pinus Nuttallii Parlatore," 1868), now a 

 synonym, having been given to the tree during the long period it has 

 been known. 14 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Larix occidentalis is the largest and most massive of North Ameri- 

 can larches. Its straight stems grow ordinarily to a height of from 

 100 to 180 feet, and to a diameter of 3 or 4 feet. Not infrequently, 

 however, trees reach a height of over 200 feet and a diameter of 

 from 5 to 8 feet. The tapering trunks are clear of branches for 

 from 60 to 100 feet or more. The crown is a short, narrow pyramid 

 running up to a long slender point, and is very open, being made 

 up of comparatively few, small, horizontal branches, which have 

 the appearance of being thinly clad with leaves. Trees growing in 

 protected situations at low elevations have rather long, narrow 

 crowns, with more or less weeping branches. In exposed places at 

 high elevations this weeping habit is much less pronounced. 



Middle-aged and old trees have reddish cinnamon-brown bark, 

 which is 3 to 6 inches thick and deeply furrowed near the base of the 

 tree, where the ridges are strikingly massive; 20 or more feet above, 

 it is much thinner and less deeply furrowed. The exceedingly thick 

 bark on the lower trunks of large trees is often an effective protection 

 against injury by fire, many of these trees having passed through 

 several destructive forest fires without damage to their vitality. The 

 bark of young trees and branches is thin, scaly, and dark or grayish 

 brown. 



The color of the foliage is a pale yellowish green, in late autumn 

 becoming a bright lemon-yellow, which, distinguishes the trees from 

 their associates. The flatly triangular leaves, rounded on the back 

 and distinctly ridged or keeled on the inner face, are from about 1 

 inch to sometimes If inches in length. In cross section they show a 



u Western larch was first introduced into England in 1881 and again in 1889 only 1 of 40 seedlings re- 

 ceived in 1881 surviving, and but 2 out of 10 received in 1889. Elwes and Henry (The Trees of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, II, 396, 1907) say that in 1900 these tree&measured, respectively, 33 feet in height and 

 5§ inches in diameter, and 29 feet in height and 5$ inches in'diameter. 



Larix occidentalis was cultivated for the first time in eastern United States, near Boston, in 1881, the 

 t rial being made with wild seedlings obtained from Oregon. Prof. C. S. Sargent says (Silva, XII, 13, 1898) 

 that these plants have remained stunted, which would seem to indicate that the species is not adapted 

 to the climate of New England. However, twigs from them grafted on the roots of Japanese larch have 

 grown vigorously. We do not know of any other trial of western larch in the East. The great difficulty, 

 however, in obtaining seed doubtless explains why so little has been done to test this tree in the East. 





