[75] 



It's taken internally to relieve kidney pain and burning on urination. It's an ingredient in 

 several ointments. 



Before sunrise during May and June, small slightly sticky grains that are easily 

 crushed between the fingers appear on the leaves of the larch tree. This is the manna of 

 Briancon. Like that of Calabria, it's a purgative. 



The wood of the larch is used in civil construction and in shipbuilding. It's made 

 into water pipes, barrel staves, and beams for house construction. Planks and masts on 

 boats that sail on Lake Geneva are made of larch wood. It's claimed that they last much 

 longer than those made of oak. In Toulon [Translator's note: the French Mediterranean 

 port and shipbuilding city] it had been well known that fine pieces of larch with few 

 knots in them could be used for top-masts and even for constructing mainmasts. A cubic 

 foot of the wood weighs twenty-five to twenty-six kilograms. 



CULTIVATION. It's easy to propagate this tree from seeds; it transplants well and 

 likes almost all kinds of soil. "My most beautiful larch tree" says M. Dumont-Courset, "is 

 set in the worst soil. It's heavy earth, clayey, sticky, more suitable for making pottery, 

 with white marl underneath." 



KEY TO PLATE. 



European larch. 1. Branch of male and female flowers. 2. Branch of leaves 

 terminating in a new fruit. 3. Stamen. 4. Fruits or cones. 5. Scale, exterior view. 6. Same, 

 inside view. 7. Detached seed. 



