Larix laricina
Eastern (American) Larch
Mature Size, Growth, Longevity
Average mature size of 40-80' tall and 15-30' wide. Open and pyramidal with a slender trunk, horizontal branches and drooping branchlets. Slow to medium growth rate.
Native Range
Northern North America, from the Arctic Circle in Alaska and Canada southwards to northern Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Illinois. Introduced 1737.
Flower and Fruit Details
Flowers are monoecious and sessile, male yellow, female rosy colored. Fruits are small, oval cones, 0.33-0.6" long, 0.25-0.5" wide, pendulous, glabrous, green or violet maturing to brown.
Leaf and Bark Features
Leaves are light bluish green (pale green with 2 stomatal bands beneath), 0.75-1.25" long, 0.02" wide, 3-sided, strongly keeled beneath, on short spurs 12-30 in a bundle. Yellowish in the fall. Bark is 0.5-0.75" thick, gray to reddish brown, scaly.
Culture and Care
Makes best growth in moist, well-drained, acid soils, in full sun, pH adaptable. Zones 2-4. Susceptible to larch case-bearer, Larch sawfly, wood rot and several rust fungi.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts
Very cold hardy. Mainly a wild tree, okay for landscapes; less tolerant of cultivation then Larix decidua; intolerant of shade and pollution.