THE LARCH. 



LARIX EUROP.EA. 



The Larch may best be 

 distinguished from the rest 

 of the Fir-trees at the season 

 when most other trees thi'ow 

 ofi* their distinctive charac- 

 ter. In winter its lofty 

 .undivided stem, pyramidal 

 form, and tiers of drooping 

 branches still bearing the 

 conesformed during the pre- 

 ceding summer, decisively 

 attest its relationship with 

 the Firs; and the absence 

 of leaves at once distin* 

 guishes it from any other 

 of that tribe with which 

 we are familiar. There is, 

 however, no difBculty in 

 detecting it, no matter what 

 may be its associates, when 

 in full foliage. A favour- 

 able specimen of the Larch 

 may be described as an 

 erect tree, of a pyramidal 

 form, clothed with long 

 slender branches from its 

 pointed summit almost to 



