LARCH (ante). One of the chief differences between these conifera and the pines And firs is their deciduous character. The American larch, or la?* Americana, inhabits North America from Virginia to Hudson's bay. It is called hackmatack in Canada, but in the middle, southern, and western states, tamarack. It sometimes grows to 70 ft. in height, but is generally much smaller. It is occasionally found on uplands, especially in its northern habitats, but iu the middle and southern states it grows in moist soils and shallow swamps, often where the. muck or peat is quite deep: It is a slender, beautiful tree, having horizontal branches, but its shade is not dense. The primary leaves are scattered, the secondary ones are many in a fascicle, and are developed early in the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, from lateral, scaly, globular buds. They arc at first of a light, yellowish-green, becoming, when mature, dark-bluish, and changing again in the fall to a •ellow. The sterile catkins, erect, round, one-quarter of an inch long, are borne near the ends of the branches. The fertile catkins are borne
near the middle of the branches, half an inch in length, having a few scales, and of a crimson color during flowering. The ripe cone attains a length of about three-fourths of an inch. The distinction made in the article ante between red American (L. tenuifolio and black American larch (L. pendula) is not maintained by most authors, who say that the difference is at most a variety, and is caused by difference in locality. The Ameri can larch is inferior to the European tree for ornamental purposes, the latter having more fully-leaved and pendulous branches, and cones one-half larger. The larix Europce,a is indigenous to central Europe, and flourishes particularly in the Alps, where it is a fine timber tree. It has been transplanted in Scotland, and the plantations have yielded profitable returns. Those of the dukes of Athol are celebrated, 14,000,000 larches hav ing been planted on an area of over 10,000 acres previous to 1826.