Chapter XV
THE LARCH
Family Pinaceæ
The larch is the only native Northern genus of the pine family which loses its leaves in winter; all the other native genera are evergreens. There is one indigenous species, and one from Europe which is cultivated even more commonly than the American tree.
[Sidenote: American Larch; Tamarack or Hackmatack
_Larix americana_]
_A large tree, 50 to 100 feet high. The bark is rough with small, flat scales. The stems are pliable, and are covered with knobby buds. The cones are small, not more than half an inch long._
In Massachusetts the larch does not attain a great height, but in cold Northern swamps it grows to be a large tree. It is not dependent on a wet situation, but grows well after being transplanted into upland soil. Its growth is rapid, and it is often chosen for “quick effects” in landscape gardening,—a choice which is to be regretted for the most part, as few trees have so little beauty as the larch.
During a brief interval in the early spring, when the first young leaves fringe the branches in delicate green, this tree is really lovely, but after that there is little to attract us in its stiff, formal outline and dark foliage, and in winter it is most unprepossessing.
The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and very durable. It is used for the knees of vessels and ship timbers, for posts, telegraph poles, and railway ties.
The generic name, _Larix_, comes from the Celtic word _lar_, meaning fat, and was given to this genus on account of the resin produced by the tree. The larch is found throughout the Northeastern States.
[Sidenote: European Larch
_Larix europæa_]
_A large tree, 80 to 100 feet high. The branches are more pendulous, and the cones are twice as large as those of our native species._
The cones of both the American and European larches hang on the branches through the winter, and as those of the European are an inch or more long and about as broad, while those of the American are half that size, the trees are easily distinguished from each other. Even in the accompanying photographs this difference is discernible.
At one time in England the plan of introducing the larch into the forests bordering the English lakes was under consideration, and this greatly disturbed the poet Wordsworth, who was keenly alive to the distressing effects of inharmonious and inappropriate tree planting. In “A Description of the Scenery of the Lakes,” he points out the fact that it is impossible for trees which terminate in a spike, like that of the larch, to blend together and form masses of wood; that if thousands to tens of thousands are added, the appearance is still the same, a collection of separate individual trees, obstinately presenting themselves as such, and which, from whatever point they are looked at, if but seen may be counted upon the fingers. He goes on to express his dislike of the larch in the following words “As a tree it is less than any other pleasing; its branches (for boughs it has none) have no variety in the youth of this tree, and little dignity even when it attains its full growth; leaves it cannot be said to have, consequently it affords neither shade nor shelter. In spring the larch becomes green long before the native trees, and its green is so peculiar and vivid that, finding nothing to harmonize with it, wherever it comes forth a disagreeable speck is produced. In summer, when all other trees are in their pride, it is of a dingy, lifeless hue; in autumn of a spiritless, unvaried yellow, and in winter it is still more lamentably distinguished from every other deciduous tree of the forest, for they seem only to sleep, but the larch appears absolutely dead.”
Many old stories are in existence concerning the durability and incombustibility of the wood of this tree. It is said that Julius Cæsar wished to set fire to a wooden tower before the gates of a castle, in the Alps, which he was besieging; that he heaped up logs of larch wood around it, but was utterly unable to make them burn,—“_robusta larix igni impenetrabile lignum_.” Evelyn, one of the first English writers on trees, gives an account of a ship made of larch wood and cypress which was found in the Numidian Sea, twelve fathoms under water, and which, though it had lain fourteen hundred years submerged, was yet quite hard and sound.
Exaggerated as these accounts may seem, the fact remains that the wood is extremely valuable, and what the larch lacks in grace and beauty as an ornamental tree it makes up in its merits as a useful one. Thus even among trees there is a just law of compensation.
INDEX
INDEX
Acacia, rose, 131
_Acer_, 21 _dasycarpum_, 26 _negundo_, 28, 29 _pennsylvanicum_, 27, 28 _platanoides_, 29, 30 _pseudo-platanus_, 30, 31 _rubrum_, 23, 25 _saccharinum_, 25, 26 _saccharum_, 22, 23, 26 _spicatum_, 28
_Aceracæ_, 21
_Æsculus glabra_, 17 _hippocastanum_, 15, 17
Ailanthus, 160 _glandulosa_, 160, 161
_Amelanchier_, 174 _canadensis_, 173
Angelica tree, 162
Apple tree, 167
_Aralia spinosa_, 162, 163
_Araliaceæ_, 153, 162
Ash, American, 36 black, 38 buds, color of, 40 downy, 37 European, 39 excrescences on the, 36 green, 36 red, 37 seeds, 41 white, 36
Ashes, 9, 35, 41
Aspen, 179 American, 179 large-toothed, 181
Balm of Gilead, 182
Bark, 6, 7 color of, 7 taste of, 7
Basswood, 141 small leaved, 141 white, 141
Beech, 7, 77 American, 77 blue, 72 European, 79 purple, 80
_Betula_, 61 _alba_, 68 _lenta_, 63, 64 _lutea_, 64, 66 _nigra_, 66 _papyrifera_, 60, 61 _populifolia_, 62, 63 _pumila_, 68
_Betulaceæ_, 59
Bigelow, 158
_Bignoniaceæ_, 153, 158
Birch, 59 American, 62 beer, 64 black, 63 canoe, 7, 60 dwarf, 68 European white, 68 gray, 62 paper, 60 red, 66 river, 66 sweet, 63 white, 60, 62
Birch, yellow, 64
Birches, 59
Bosc, 169
Boutcher, 80
Box elder, 28
Branches, 6, 7, 10
Bryant, quoted, 119
Buckeye, Ohio, 17
Buckeyes, 15
Buds, 6, 10, 11 accessory, 11 adventitious, 11 axillary, 6, 10 collateral, 11 flower, 11 flowers in the, 10 latent, 11 lateral, 6, 10 scales of, 9 superposed, 11 terminal, 6, 10 winter, 11
Bundle-scars, 10
Butternut, 11, 45 sugar from sap of, 47
Buttonwood, 117
Cambium layer, 5, 6
_Carpinus_, 73 _caroliniana_, 72, 74
_Castanea_, 82 _dentata_, 81, 83
Catalpa, hardy, 158 _speciosa_, 158, 160
_Celtis_, 101 _occidentalis_, 112, 113
_Cercis canadensis_, 136
Cherry, black, 7, 171 bird, 172 choke, 172 pin, 172 red, 172 sweet, 172
Chestnut, 77, 81 Spanish, 82
_Cladrastis_, 134 _lutea_, 134
Cook, 80
Cork tree, 89
_Cornaceæ_, 120
Cornel, flowering, 121
_Cornus_, 122 _florida_, 121, 122
Cottonwood, 183 swamp, 184
Cucumber tree, 155
Dogwood, 120 flowering, 121 poison, 121
Du Hamel, quoted, 143
Elm, 101 American, 5, 10, 101, 102 cork, 7, 107, 144 Dutch, 111 English, 101, 108 feathered, 11, 103 Lancaster, 103 red, 105 rock, 107 Scotch, 111 slippery, 7, 105 Thomas’s, 107 white, 102 wych, 111
Elms, 101
Emerson, quoted, 37, 39, 87, 91, 94, 108, 119, 183
Evelyn, quoted, 41, 80, 190
_Fagaceæ_, 77
_Fagus_, 79 _americana_, 77
_Fagus sylvatica_, 78, 80
_Fraxinus_, 35 _americana_, 36 _excelsior_, 39 _nigra_, 38 _pennsylvanica_, 37
Fruit, 8
Gerard, quoted, 70, 111, 180
_Gleditsia_, 133 _triacanthos_, 132, 133
Gilpin, 80, 119
Gray, quoted, 47, 119
Growth, 6, 9, 10 annual rings of, 6
_Gymnocladus dioicus_, 135
Hackberry, 101, 112
Hackmatack, 187
_Hamamelidaceæ_, 141
_Hamamelis_, 144, 146
Hamerton, quoted, 69
Heartwood, 5, 6
Hercules’ club, 162
Hickories, 9, 45
Hickory, bitternut, 53 mockernut, 7, 51 pignut, 54 shagbark, 7, 49 shellbark, 49 white-heart, 51
_Hicoria_, 45, 51 _alba_, 51 _glabra_, 54, 56 _minima_, 53, 54 _ovata_, 49
_Hippocastanaceæ_, 15
Holmes, quoted, 109, 118
Homer, quoted, 180
Hop hornbeam, 8, 71
Hornbeam, 7, 72
Horsechestnut, 8, 9, 15, 41, 143
Horsechestnut buds, 15, 16 flowers, 16 leaf-scars, 15 twigs, 15
Indian bean, 158
Internodes, 9
Ironwood, 71
Jekyll, quoted, 69
Judas tree, 136
_Juglandaceæ_, 45
_Juglans_, 45, 47 _cinerea_, 45 _nigra_, 48 _regia_, 49
Juneberry, 173
Kentucky coffee tree, 129, 135, 160, 161
Knight, 169
_Laburnum vulgare_, 136
Larch, 187 American, 187 European, 188
_Larix_, 188 _americana_, 187 _europæa_, 188
_Lauraceæ_, 141, 147
Leaf-scars, 9, 10
_Leguminosæ_, 129
Lenticels, 8, 16
Lime trees, 143
Linden, 141 common, 141 European, 141, 143
Linnæus, 28, 67, 143, 145, 146
_Liquidambar_, 144, 145 _styraciflua_, 144, 146
Liquidamber, 7, 144
_Liriodendron_, 153, 157 _tulipifera_, 155
Locust, clammy, 131 common, 129 honey, 132
Loudon, 31, 111, 124, 148
Lowell, quoted, 24
Lubbock, quoted, 156
_Magnolia acuminata_, 155 _glauca_, 153, 154 swamp, 153 _tripetala_, 154, 155
_Magnoliaceæ_, 153, 157
Maple, 21 ash-leaved, 28 bird’s eye, 23 curled, 25 moosewood, 27 mountain, 7, 28 Norway, 29 red, 10, 11, 23 rock, 22 silver, 25 striped, 7, 27 sugar, 7, 22 swamp, 23 sycamore, 30 white, 25
Maples, 9, 21, 41
Maple sugar, 22, 23
Mathews, 80
Medullary rays, 6
Michaux, 55, 79, 88, 145
Milton, quoted, 109
_Moracæ_, 122
_Morus_, 123 _alba_, 123, 124 _rubra_, 123
Mountain ash, 170
Mulberry, red, 123 white, 122, 124
Nettle tree, 112
Nodes, 9
_Nyssa_, 120 _sylvatica_, 120
Oak apples, 93 bear, 97 black, 92 bur, 88 chestnut, 89 chinquapin, 90 dwarf chestnut, 90 mossy-cup, 88, 144 overcup, 88 pin, 96 post, 91 red, 93 rock chestnut, 89 rough, 91 scarlet, 95 scrub, 97 swamp white, 86 white, 85
Oaks, 9, 77, 83, 84
_Oleaceæ_, 35
_Ostrya_, 72 _virginiana_, 71, 72
Ovid, quoted, 110
Pallas, quoted, 182
Peach tree, 172 buds of, 173
Pear tree, 169
Pepperidge, 120
Phyllotaxy, 81, 82
_Pinaceæ_, 187
Pith, 6, 8 color, 8 form, 8 rays, 6
Plane tree, 117
_Platanaceæ_, 117
_Platanus_, 119 _occidentalis_, 117, 119 _orientalis_, 119
Plum, 172
Poplar, balm of Gilead, 182 balsam, 182 Carolina, 183 cottonwood, 183 Lombardy, 184 necklace, 183 swamp cottonwood, 184 white, 184
_Populus_, 177, 181 _balsamifera_, 182 _deltoides_, 183, 184 _grandidentata_, 181, 182 _heterophylla_, 184 _tremuloides_, 179, 181
_Prunus_, 172 _avium_, 172 _domestica_, 172 _pennsylvanica_, 172 _persica_, 172 _serotina_, 171, 172 _virginiana_, 172
_Pyrus_, 168 _americana_, 170, 171 _communis_, 169 _malus_, 167 _sambucifolia_, 171
_Quercus_, 83, 85 _alba_, 85 _coccinea_, 95, 96 _macrocarpa_, 88, 89 _minor_, 91, 92 _palustris_, 96, 97 _platanoides_, 86, 88 _prinus_, 89 _prinoides_, 90, 91 _pumila_, 97 _rubra_, 93, 95 _velutina_, 92, 93
Redbud, 136
_Robinia_, 130 _hispida_, 131 _pseud-acacia_, 129, 130 _viscosa_, 131
_Rosaceæ_, 167
Rowan tree, 170
_Salicaceæ_, 177
_Salix alba_, 177 _babylonica_, 178 _nigra_, 179
Sapwood, 5
Sargent, quoted, 104, 107, 124, 135, 145
Sassafras, 7, 141, 147
_Sassafras sassafras_, 147, 149
Scars, 9 fruit, 9 leaf, 9 stipule, 9
Service berry, 173
Scott, quoted, 69, 180
Shad bush, 173
Shenstone, quoted, 70
Silkworms, 124, 125
_Simaroubaceæ_, 153, 159
Sour gum tree, 120
Spenser, quoted, 180
Stems, 8, 9
Stipules, 9
Sugar berry, 112
Sumac poison, 121
Sweet bay, 153
Sweet gum, 144
Sycamore, 117
Tamarack, 187
Tennyson, quoted, 40, 41
Thoreau, 24 quoted, 65, 148
Thorns, 8
_Tilia americana_, 141
_Tiliaceæ_, 141
Tree of heaven, 160
Trees, 3, 4 age of, 6, 8, 9 dool, 31
Trunk, tree, 5 deliquescent, 5 dicotyledonous, 5 excurrent, 5
Tulip tree, 153, 155
Tupelo, 7, 120
Twigs, 8
_Ulmaceæ_, 101
Umbrella tree, 154
_Ulmus_, 101, 105 _americana_, 102 _campestris_, 108, 110, 112
_Ulmus montana_, 111, 112 _pubescens_, 105, 106 _racemosa_, 107, 108
Vascular bundles, 10
Virgil, quoted, 110
Virgilia, 135
Walnut, black, 48 English, 49
Walnuts, 8, 9, 45
Willow, black, 179 “pussy,” 178 weeping, 7, 178 white, 177
Witch-hazel, 146
Wood, 5, 6 silver grain of, 6
Wordsworth, quoted, 189
Yellowwood, 129, 134
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Transcriber’s Notes
pg 106 Changed: used for imflammatory diseases to: used for inflammatory diseases
pg 179 Changed: the only one anong our native willows to: the only one among our native willows