Description: Deciduous tree with straight, tapering trunk and thin, open, conical crown of horizontal branches; a shrub at timberline.

Height: 12-25m

Diameter: 0.3-0.6m

Needles: Deciduous; 2-2.5 cm long, 1 mm wide. Soft, very slender, three-angled; crowded in cluster on spur twigs, also scattered and alternate on leader twigs. Light blue-green, turning yellow in autumn before shedding.

Bark: Reddish-brown, scaly, thin, finely flaking, no fissures.

Twigs: Orange-brown, stout, hairless, with many spurs or short side twigs.

Flowers: Males very small, numerous but not dense; females small, 0.6-0.8cm, deep red, numerous over outer crown.

Cones: 12-20mm long; elliptical, rose-red turning brown, upright, stalkless; falling in second year; several overlapping, rounded cone-scales; paired, brown, long-winged seeds.

Habitat: Wet, peaty soils of bogs and swamps; also in drier upland loamy soils; often in pure stands.

Range: Across North America near northern limit of trees from Alaska east to Labrador, south to New Jersey, and west to Minnesota; local in N West Virginia and W Maryland. From near sea-level to 500-1200m southward.

One of the northernmost trees, the hardy Tamarack is useful as an ornamental in very cold climates. Indians used the slender roots to sew together strips of birch bark for their canoes. The larch sawfly defoliates stands in infrequent years, causing damage or death. Introduced to UK in 1739, but rare, few even in collections, though occasional in large gardens. Specimen at Harlow Carr Gardens near Harrogate.

Information: Audubon (1980), Mitchell (1978)

Source: Arigevaig Nurseries, Ardnamurchan (W.Scotland), Ardkinglass Tree Shop

Purchased: 1993.09.27, three at 2-3', in pots (rather pot-bound), one of a similar size in 2000.

Planted: Two at SW apex of bottom triangle, 1993.09.30ish, C23D and D19A. One on 1993.11.08 in barn triangle at A5B.

Progress: Very rapid for the first two years, somewhat slower since. The tree at C23D was ring-barked by rabbits about 1m above ground (access provided by deep snow) in the third winter, but a second leader had developed from near the base and rapidly made new growth. The very tip of the leader of the tree at A5B died during a drought, but a nearby shoot rapidly took its place. A couple of the trees have lost the tip in 1998 - this also seems to afflict the european larches, and does not really set them back noticeably. On 1998.10.07 the trees were 2.2 m (C23D), 2.65 m (D19A) and 3.1 m (A5B). Although they started out quite bushy, they have now become much more fastigiate than our European Larches. The tree at D19A was killed when rabbits ring-barked it yet again, having gained access over the fence, again owing to a deep snowfall. The C23D tree was 6.2m on 2004.09.27, whilst the A5B specimen has suffered from repeatedly losing its leader and is at 4.2m. The adjacent crab apple needs pruning clear to allow this tree to reestablish upward growth. A replacement for the D19A tree was bought at Ardkinglass, but a certain amount of rethinking about locations has stopped this from being planted as yet.

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