A medium to tall size deciduous tree, with a straight, gradually tapering trunk and narrow open crown of many irregularly arranged, slender somewhat horizontal branches, growing to a height of 15 - 20 m.

Description

Distinguishing Features - Needles: deciduous; appear on the trees in two different kinds of twigs; towards the ends of the branches and branchlets, the twigs elongate in the regular way and they bear single leaves distinctly separated from each other; further back on branches, many of the leaves crowd so closely that they appear to be in clusters. The needles of the larch are spirally arranged, needle-shaped, slender, flexible and soft to touch, 20 - 45 mm long, the numbers in the cluster vary from 10 to 50. Cones: formed and mature in one season - brown, short and round, borne on the dwarf twigs, stand erect on short stalks and open when mature to release the winged seeds. Bark: scaly, resembling that of a spruce tree, but the inner bark of larch is a vivid reddish purple. Fall Colour: needles turn yellow in fall before dropping off.

Habitat

Native to eastern Russia, Siberia and Northern China; has been planted for timber production in Finland and Sweden; occur as small groups mixed with other trees rather than as pure forest.

Notes

The Siberian Larch can live up to 100 years with a growth rate of 20 to 150 cm a year.

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