Subalpine larch

Leaves

Form

• Somewhat stiff
• 4-sided in cross-section
• 30–40 per tuft

Length

• 4–5 cm

Colour

• Pale bluish-green
• Sometimes remaining green for 2 seasons on trees up to 20 years old

Buds

Form

• Scales with a dense fringe of hairs sometimes hiding the bud

Twigs

Form

• Stout, tough, densely hairy
• Dwarf shoots often several centimetres long, longer than those of other larches
• Dwarf shoots often occur as the new growth on long shoots

Seed cones (immature)

Length

• 10–15 mm

Colour

• Deep purplish-red

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Ovoid
• Standing out from the twig in all directions

Length

• 4-5 cm

Colour

• Purplish-brown

Structure

• Scales hairy, curving toward the base of the cone
• Bracts fringed, extending beyond scales, with tips curving toward base of cone

Timing

• Seed crops are infrequent
• Seedlings rarely found

Seeds

Length

• Seed about 3 mm
• Seed wing 6 mm

Bark

Form

• Thin, smooth when young
• Becoming thicker (2–3 cm), with irregularly shaped scaly plates

Colour

• Gray to yellowish-grey when young, becoming reddish

Size

Height

• To 12 m

Diameter

• To 50 cm

Maximum age

• Several hundred years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Short, sturdy, and tapering rapidly
• Dead branch stubs and parts of branches scattered along the trunk

Crown

• Ragged
• Principal branches irregularly spaced
• Long, gnarled, thick near the trunk, wide-spreading
• Often drooping with upturned tips
• Needles mostly confined to the end of the branch
• Size and form depend on the growing conditions
• Stunted under severe conditions
• Large and handsome under favourable conditions

Root system

• Deep-rooted, windfirm

Habitat

Site

• Elevations of 1500–2200 m, higher than any other tree
• Often forming the alpine tree line
• Grows on acidic gravelly soils

Associated species

• In small, open, pure stands above 1500 m to the alpine tree line
• At lower elevations mixed with subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, mountain hemlock, whitebark pine

Range

Southern British Columbia and Alberta