LARCH, Lariat, a genus of trees of. the natural order coniferce, differing from firs (abies)—of which, however, some botanists regard it as a mere subgenus—in having the scales of the cones attenuated at the tip, and not falling off from the axis of the cone when fully ripe, and the leaves deciduous and in clusters, except on shoots of the same year. on which they are single and scattered.—The Commox LARCH (L. Europa ()rabies lari.r) is a beautiful tree, growing wild on the mountains of the s. and middle of Europe, and found also in Asia, where it extends much further n. than in Europe, even to the limits of perpetual snow. The larch is not a native of Britain, and was not planted in any part of the island as a forest tree till the middle of the 18th c., when it began to be very extensively planted. Its introduction has changed the aspect of whole districts, particularly in Scotland. The perfectly erect and rerrulanly tapering stem of the larch, its small branches, its regular conical form, and its very numerous and very small leaves, make its aspect peculiar, and very different from that of any other tree seen in Britain. It attains a height of 60 to 100 feet, and an age of 200 years. The male cat kins are small and bright yellow, the female catkins generally purple and erect; the cones ovate-oblong, about an inch long, and erect. The larch grows rapidly, and is useful even from an early age; the thinnings of a plantation being employed for hop-poles, palings, etc.; the older timber for a great variety of purposes. It is very resinous, does not readily rot even in water, is not readily attacked by worms, and is much used in ship-building. It is, however, very apt to warp, and is therefore not well suited for planks.—Larch.bark is used for tanning, although not nearly equal in value to oak-bark. —In Siberia, where large tracts of larch forest are not unfrequently consumed by acci dental fires, the scorched stems yield, instead of a resin, a gum similar to gum-arabic, reddish, and completely soluble is water, which is known as Orenburgh guns, and is used for cementing and in medicine, and, notwithstanding a somewhat resinous smell, even as an article of food. In warm countries, a kind of manna (q.v.) exudes from the
leaves of the larch in the hottest season of the year, having a sweetish taste, with a slight flavor of It is gathered principally in France, and is known as Briancon manna, or L. manna. —The larch woods of Britain have of late years suffered greatly from a disease, in which the center of the stem decays; the nature and causes of which are very imperfectly understood, although it seems to be sufficiently ascertained that those plantations are peculiarly liable to it which are formed where any kind of fir has previously grown, and those least so which are regularly thinned, so that the trees enjoy abundance of fresh air. The larch does not dislike moisture, but stagnation of water is very injurious to it, and thorough drainage is therefore necessary.—There are varieties of the common larch remarkable for crowded branches, for pendulous branches, and for other peculiarities, which arc sometimes planted as ornamental trees.—The RED AMERICAN LARCH or HACKMATACK (L. tennifolia), distinguished by very small cones not quite half an inch in length, is common in the northern parts of North America, and on the Alleghany mountains, often covering extensive tracts. It is a noble tree. much :resembling the common larch, and its timber is highly valued.—The PENDULOUS LARCH, or BLACK AMERICAN LARCH (L. pendula), is another very fine North American species, with larger leaves. The HIMALAYAN LARCH (L. Griffithsiz) abounds in the Himalayas, but is generally a small tree of 20 to 40 ft. high.. Its cones are larger than those of the common larch. Its wood is very durable.