Western larch

Leaves

Form

• Flattened above, keeled below, cross-section triangular
• 15–30 per tuft

Length

• 3–5 cm

Colour

• Shiny pale green

Buds

Form

• Fringed scales on terminal bud
• Downy on dwarf shoots

Colour

• Dark brown

Twigs

Form

• Hairy at first, becoming hairless during the summer

Colour

• Orange-brown during the summer

Seed cones (immature)

Colour

• Red

Length

• 10–20 mm

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Ovoid

Length

• 3–5 cm

Colour

• Reddish-brown

Structure

• About 30 scales
• Hairy on the lower side
• Tips curving toward cone base when the cone is open
• Bract tip extends beyond the scale

Seeds

Length

• Seed 5 mm
• Seed wing 8 mm

Bark

Form

• Scaly when young
• Becoming thick (up to 15 cm)
• Deeply furrowed with flat flaky ridges

Colour

• Reddish-brown

Wood

Texture

• Heavy, hard, strong

Colour

• Heartwood brown
• Sapwood yellowish-white

Morphology

• Heartwood moderately resistant to decay
• Sapwood narrow

Uses

• Pulpwood, lumber, piling, flooring
• Interior and exterior finishing

Size

Height

• To 70 m

Diameter

• To 200 cm

Maximum age

• 400 years

Tree form

Open-grown

Crown

• Principal branches often drooping in the lower crown

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Trunk usually branch-free over much of its length

Crown

• Short, narrow, pyramidal
• Principal branches usually horizontal

Root system

• Deep, wide-spreading

Habitat

Site

• Deep, well-drained, coarsely textured, moist soils

Associated species

• Small pure stands may form at elevations between 400 and 1500 m
• Usually mixed with Douglas-fir, western white pine, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, western hemlock, ponderosa pine

Range

Southeastern British Columbia, eastward into Alberta