Larches
Larches - Larix spp.
The larch is one of the commonest conifers to be planted in the UK. There are ten species world wide of which two species have been introduced into Britain on a large scale, the Japanese Larch (Larix kaempferi) and the European Larch (Larix decidua). The Japanese Larch has been extensively planted in forests whilst the European Larch is mainly to be seen in woodlands of perhaps over 60 years of age and in parks and gardens. Larches are fairly easy to get established after planting, have rapid early growth, good amenity value and produce useful timber.
It may surprise many people that larch is a conifer. For a conifer it is most unusual in being deciduous,shedding its leaves each autumn. It's foliage is also not typical of conifers in the leaves being soft and rather on the light side of green.
The illustration shows a larch of perhaps 15-20 years old grown in the open. It may be 10-15m. high. Larches grown in woodlands have much shorter crowns. Again, the larch is unusual for conifers in that on older trees the dead branches fall off more readily, leading to long lengths of clear trunk in tall trees. Larch trees usually have fairly narrow slender and attractive crowns which do not keep out the light. Older larchwoods have a great deal of undergrowth , unlike some other conifers which cast a heavy shade.
The larch is possibly one of the easiest of the conifers to identify. Do not forget that it is deciduous, so if you have been observing it through the year this itself will narrow down your options.
If in winter you are looking at a tree which is alive (break twigs from what you think is the growing crown to see if they are alive and not dry and brittle), which has cones and is without leaves, then you can conclude it is a larch. If the tips of the shoots are straw coloured then it is likely to be a European Larch, especially if it is an old tree planted in parkland or a garden. If the tips of the winter twigs are brown or reddy brown to rust-red then you can conclude it is a Japanese Larch.
Examine the cones and attempt to determine whether the scales are curved back from the body of the cone, a bit like rose petals. If this is the case then you will be looking at a Japanese Larch. Indeed if you already come to the conclusion that the tree is a larch and you are in a woodland, there is something like an 80% chance that you are looking at a Japanese Larch.If the cone scales are not curving outwards, but pressed in towards the body of the cone then you are likely to be looking at a European Larch.
The larch is one of the first of the trees to green up in Spring. Even in late March the green rosettes of leaves may be unfolding. Amongst them you may see the pink female flowers. To identify a larch in leaf examine the living branches and twigs. You will see that the leaves are arranged in a rosette like arrangement along the twigs as shown in the diagram. Later as the twigs begin to grow in length you will also see the different arrangement of the leaves along the growing tips.
The leaves are around 30mm. in length and soft. Though narrow you would not describe them as needle like. If you do have the chance to compare the Japanese with the European Larch you will see that the European Larch has somewhat finer foliage and is more slender and drooping in form than the Japanese Larch.
You should also be aware that woodland plantings may be of European / Japanese Larch hybrids. Natural hybrids also occur so it may not always be possible to positively identify a tree as being European or Japanese species.
The rosette arrangement of leaves on the twigs behind the growing tips is characteristic of larch. The only other trees which have something like this arrangement are the cedars such as the Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) and the Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica). In practice it is most unlikely that there will be confusion. The cedars contrast with the larch in having dark or blue green foliage, short trunks carrying large prominent spreading crowns. They are not deciduous like the larch and they are never planted as woodlands, being found in large gardens churchyards and parks. The cones of the cedar are quite unlike the cones of larch.
Autumn colour
Larch trees are particularly attractive producing a green flush of foliage in the Spring and assuming yellow, orange or light brown tones as the needles die at the onset of Winter. Its autumn colour is well seen in the valleys of the old South Wales coalfield where it has been extensively planted.
Origins
The European Larch is native to mountainous areas in Europe other than in Britain. It is indigenous to the Alps and from the Sudeten Mountains to the Carpathians and the Vistula Valley in Poland. The earliest plantings in UK go back to the 18th Century.
The Japanese larch grows wild on the mountains of Honshu in Japan. It was first used as a woodland tree in Britain early this century.
The hybrid larch is a cross between the Japanese and the European and first arose by chance when cross-pollination between female flowers of Japanese larch and males of the European one happened on the Estate of the Duke of Atholl at Dunkeld in Perthshire about 1900. In many plants, a cross between parents of different species often shows a property called hybrid vigour - the offspring growing faster and tolerating a wider range of conditions than either parent can stand.
Site requirements
In Britain, the Japanese larch does best on hilly districts in the milder, wetter west coast regions, on better drained slopes particularly where bracken grows. Hybrid larch is preferred on drier, more adverse sites. European larch is rarely planted in forests here now.
Uses of the wood
Larch poles are often used for rustic work such as furniture or sawn very thinly and treated with preservative for garden fencing panels. Larch logs are sawn into fencing and packaging products.