Flora of New Zealand Series

larch

Small or medium-sized tree (large in cultivation), pyramidal when young, irregular in shape later. Branchlets ± drooping. Bark grey, pinkish below, fissured and forming small plates. Long shoots yellow, glabrous, appearing ribbed because of elongated, pad-like persistent lf bases. Short shoots stout, c. 5 mm long, grey. Lvs on short shoots in fascicles of 40-65, 1.5-4 cm × c. 0.5 mm at 1/2 way along lf, grass-green, very soft; midrib raised on either side. ♂ and ♀ strobili or cones surrounded by thin, brown bud scales with dense marginal tuft of curly brown hairs. ♀ cones c. 1 cm long at anthesis; bract scales prominent, crimson, with subulate, green apical point. Mature cone 1.5-3.5 × 1.7-2.5 cm when open, broadly ovoid-oblong; ovuliferous scales 40-50, broad-ovate or suborbicular, not prominently recurved, vertically striated with outer margin rounded; bract scales usually concealed at maturity, sometimes a small part of subulate tip exposed. Seed with large, broad, asymmetric wing.

S.: inland high country areas, especially the Amuri Range (N. Canterbury), and Mackenzie County (S. Canterbury).

Europe, W. Asia 1919

Grassland, scrub and open forest.

Larch or European larch is mainly grown as a forest and plantation tree in colder parts of N.Z., especially in the Rotorua area and the high country of the South Id. In the Mackenzie Basin it has become so extensively naturalised and aggressive that control measures have become necessary. It has previously often been known as L. europaea in N.Z.

Japanese larch, L. kaempferi (Lambert) Carrière (commonly known as L. leptolepis (Siebold et Zucc.) A. Murray), is sometimes planted for timber, and has been reported wild in the vicinity of planted stands at Hanmer but this is unconfirmed. Japanese larch is best distinguished from L. decidua by the greenish conelets and the recurved margins of the mature ovuliferous scales which give an almost rosetted appearance to the cone. The 2 spp. are sometimes planted in the same area and it is likely that some spontaneous plants are hybrids and should therefore be called L. ×eurolepis A. Henry.