Tamarack
- Latin name: Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch
- French name: Mélèze laricin
- Synonym(s): Alaska larch American larch , eastern larch , hackmatack , juniper
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 183412
Description
Leaves
Form
- Flattened above, keeled below, or triangular or 4-sided
- 15–60 per tuft
Length
- 2–5 cm
Colour
- Bluish-green
Buds
Form
- Terminal bud smooth
- On dwarf shoots, surrounded by a circle of hairs
Colour
- Dark red or brown
Twigs
Form
- Hairless
Colour
- Orange-brown to pinkish
Seed cones (immature)
Form
- Occasionally a leafy shoot develops at the tip
Length
- 5–10 mm
Colour
- Conelets red, pink, or yellowish-green
Seed cones (mature)
Form
- Broadly ovoid
- On stout, short, curved stalks
Length
- 1–2 cm
Structure
- Scales up to 20, smooth
- Bracts much shorter than the scales, visible only at the base of the cone
Timing
- Cones begin to open in mid-August
- Seeds shed during the following months
Seeds
Length
- Seed 3 mm
- Seed wing 6 mm
Bark
Form
- Thin, smooth when young, becoming scaly
Colour
- Grey when young, becoming reddish-brown
- Newly exposed bark reddish-purple
Size
Height
- To 25 m
- Trees often stunted with short needles and narrow cone scales in nutrient-poor bogs, and near the tree line in the far north and on mountain slopes
Diameter
- To 40 cm
Maximum age
- 150 years
Tree form
Forest-grown
Trunk
- Slender, straight or sinuous
Crown
- Narrowly conical, open, becoming irregular with age
- Principal branches horizontal or sometimes ascending
Root system
- Shallow, wide-spreading
Habitat
Site
- Cold, wet, poorly drained sites such as sphagnum bogs and muskeg
- Best growth on moist, well-drained light soils
Associated species
- Mixed with black spruce and/or eastern white-cedar on poorly drained sites
- Mixed with black spruce, white spruce, trembling aspen, and white birch on well-drained sites
- May occur in pure stands in a narrow band around bogs
Range
Across Canada
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
Cones or seeds
-
Common emerald
Scientific name: Hemithea aestivaria (Hubner)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Great brocade
Scientific name: Eurois occulta (Linnaeus)
-
Juniper webworm
Scientific name: Dichomeris marginella (Fabricius)
Foliage or buds
-
Common emerald
Scientific name: Hemithea aestivaria (Hubner)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Fir needle inchworm
Scientific name: Eupithecia lariciata (Frey.)
-
Gray spruce looper
Scientific name: Caripeta divisata Walker
-
Green larch looper
Scientific name: Semiothisa sexmaculata (Packard)
-
Juniper webworm
Scientific name: Dichomeris marginella (Fabricius)
-
Larch casebearer
Scientific name: Coleophora laricella (Hubner)
-
Larch needleworm
Scientific name: Zeiraphera improbana (Walker)
-
Larch sawfly
Scientific name: Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig)
-
Pero moth
Scientific name: Pero morrisonaria (Hy. Edwards)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
- Pristiphora leechi Wong and Ross
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Redlined conifer caterpillar
Scientific name: Feralia jocosa (Gn.)
-
Saddleback looper
Scientific name: Ectropis crepuscularia (Denis and Schiffermuller)
-
Small pine looper
Scientific name: Eupithecia palpata Pack.
-
Speckled green fruitworm
Scientific name: Orthosia hibisci (Guenée)
-
Spruce climbing cutworm
Scientific name: Syngrapha alias (Ottolengui)
-
Spruce fir looper
Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
-
Spruce webspinning sawfly
Scientific name: Cephalcia fascipennis (Cresson)
-
Threelined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx luteipes (Cresson)
-
Twolined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx laricivorus (Rohwer et Middleton)
-
Western larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx occidens Ross
-
White slaut
Scientific name: Tetracis cachexiata (Guenée)
-
Whitetriangle leafroller
Scientific name: Clepsis persicana (Fitch)
-
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 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
Cones or seeds
-
Sirococcus Shoot Blight
Pathogen name: Sirococcus conigenus (Dc.) Cannon & Minter
Foliage or buds
-
Conifer-aspen rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora medusae f. sp. tremuloidis Shain
-
Hemlock-willow rust
Pathogen name: Melampsora epitea Thuem.
-
Larch needle cast
Pathogen name: Hypodermella laricis Tub.
-
Sirococcus Shoot Blight
Pathogen name: Sirococcus conigenus (Dc.) Cannon & Minter
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Annosus root and butt rot (Heterobasidion irregulare)
Pathogen name: Heterobasidion irregulare (Underw.) Garbel. & Otrosina
Pitted sap rot
Pathogen name: Trichaptum abietinum (Dicks.) Ryvarden (Common names for this fungus: purple conk fungus, purple-toothed polypore)
Distribution map
