TAMARACK LARCH
larix laricina

• also known as Eastern Larch, Hackmatack, Alaska Larch, America Larch, Black Larch, Tamarack
• 'laricina' is Latin for "larch-like"
• 'tamarack' is from the Algonquin word 'akemantak' which means "wood used for snowshoes"

UNIQUE FEATURES:

• like all larches, the Tamarack has deciduous foliage (needles) but drops them in the fall like leaves

LOCATION:

• grows mainly east of the Rockies
• there are a few isolated groups in the Nechako Valley
• can live on poorly drained soils - bogs and swamps - as well as on cool, moist, north-facing slopes

SIZE:

• this small, slender tree rarely exceeds 15 metres in height

CONES:

• seed cones: small, round, red at flowering, turning brown as they age
• stay closed on the tree
• pollen cones: yellow

NEEDLES:

• 3 sided
• blue-green and yellow in autumn
• grow in clusters of 15 to 25

BARK:

• red-brown, thin and scaly

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

• heavy, durable

USES:

• modern - pulp, posts, poles, fuel
• traditional - roots: sewing bark onto canoes; resin: relieve indigestion