Subalpine larch
Description
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
Insects and diseases
Insects and diseases that are found most frequently and/or that cause the most damage in our Canadian forests.
Distribution map

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