Western larch
- Latin name: Larix occidentalis Nutt.
- French name: Mélèze de l'Ouest
- Synonym(s): Western tamarack
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 183417
Description
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
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Douglas-fir beetle
Scientific name: Dendroctonus pseudotsugae (Hopkins)
-
Poplar-and-willow borer
Scientific name: Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus).
Cones or seeds
-
Common emerald
Scientific name: Hemithea aestivaria (Hubner)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Orange tortrix
Scientific name: Argyrotaenia citrana (Fernie)
Foliage or buds
Hemlock looper
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
- Argyrotaenia dorsalana (Dyar)
-
Common emerald
Scientific name: Hemithea aestivaria (Hubner)
-
Douglas-fir tussock moth
Scientific name: Orgyia pseudotsugata (McDunnough)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Fir needle inchworm
Scientific name: Eupithecia lariciata (Frey.)
- Glena nigricaria (Barnes and McDunnough)
-
Green larch looper
Scientific name: Semiothisa sexmaculata (Packard)
-
Greenstriped forest looper
Scientific name: Melanolophia imitata (Walker)
-
Hemlock looper
Scientific names:
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
-
Larch pug moth
Scientific name: Eupithecia annulata (Hulst)
-
Larch sawfly
Scientific name: Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig)
-
Orange tortrix
Scientific name: Argyrotaenia citrana (Fernie)
- Pero behrensaria (Packard)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
-
Poplar-and-willow borer
Scientific name: Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus).
- Pristiphora leechi Wong and Ross
-
Redlined conifer caterpillar
Scientific name: Feralia jocosa (Gn.)
-
Saddleback looper
Scientific name: Ectropis crepuscularia (Denis and Schiffermuller)
-
Spruce fir looper
Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
- Synaxis pallulata (Hulst)
-
Threelined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx luteipes (Cresson)
-
Twolined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx laricivorus (Rohwer et Middleton)
-
Western hemlock looper
Scientific name: Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa (Hulst)
-
Western larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx occidens Ross
-
Whitelined looper
Scientific name: Epirrita pulchraria (Taylor)
- Xestia mustelina (Smith)
-
Yellowlined forest looper
Scientific name: Cladara limitaria (Walker)
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical sap rot
Pathogen name: Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen: Fr.) P. Karst.
-
Fir-willow rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora abietis-capraearum Tub.
-
Ribes-willow rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora ribesii-purpureae
Foliage or buds
-
Hemlock-willow rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora epitea Thuem.
-
Larch needle blight
Pathogen name: Hypodermella laricis Tub.
-
Needle blight (Meria laricis)
Pathogen name: Meria laricis Vuillemin
-
Phomopsis canker of douglas-fir
Pathogen name: Diaporthe lokoyae Funk
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
Pitted sap rot
Pathogen name: Trichaptum abietinum (Dicks.) Ryvarden (Common names for this fungus: purple conk fungus, purple-toothed polypore)
Schweinitzii butt rot
Pathogen name: Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Pat. (Common names for the fungus: velvet-topped polypore, dyer’s polypore)
Distribution map
