Larch, Larix laricina, Native Minnesota Tree, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, Tamarack

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Tamarack	Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch	Pine	Woodland	Spring to Fall
Other names and notes	(Larch). A conifer of Minnesota lowlands and bogs, it has the distinction of being deciduous. The new needle growth begins in early spring, forming as clusters of more than five needles on short shoots. Needles are 3/4-1" long and 1/32" wide, soft and 3-angled. The needles turn gold in the Autumn and by spring are usually dropped or blown away by winter winds. The cones are small, 1/2 - 3/4" long and upright, initially rose-red and then turning brown. Cones are stalkless, falling in the second year and have a pair of brown long-winged seeds. Tree height can reach 40 to 80 feet with a slim trunk diameter of 1 to 2 feet. Bark is reddish brown, scaly and thin. Twigs are hairless with many spurs on short side twigs. Former Gardener Cary George remarked "I think the sea foam green needles in the spring and their golden hue in the fall are one of the prime visual delights of the Garden." (Fringed Gentian™, Vol. 50 #1)


Above: By the end of May the needles are fully formed.	Above: Fresh green shoots showing in the later part of April
Below left: By early June the rosy-red cones are forming. Below right: After most other trees have dropped their leaves, the Tamaracks have turned to a golden yellow before the onset of winter. Some needles will remain until spring.


The stand of almost bare Tamarack trees in the bog area of the Woodland Garden in early April as the buds are beginning to put forth new needles. Note the slim trunk diameter.	In late summer the tall Tamaracks still show there green needles when other vegetation is turning to fall color.

Notes: This plant is indigenous to the Garden area. Eloise Butler catalogued it on April 29, 1907. Martha Crone planted a number of them in her first years as Curator. The bog area of Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden was originally a Tamarack Swamp. Replacements were needed as severe wind storms of 1926 and 1927 had destroyed most of the Tamaracks in the Garden and a saw fly infestation took care of the remainder. Seven small ones were transplanted from the Quacking Bog in 1934; one in 1935 and 4 additional trees in 1936. The larger specimens could be some of those trees. The small group of trees is located at the north end of the bog path near guidebook stations 23 to 25. Since the early 1980s, trees have purchased to restore the tree canopy of the woodland garden after the loss of all the elms and the removal of Buckthorn. Tamaracks have been included. Thirty were planted in 2010. In the United States, Minnesota is the western most outpost of this species, growing around the Great Lakes and up to New England. It is primarily a tree of the Canadian forests.

Lore and uses: The wood of this tree is very durable, used for framing houses, railroad ties, poles, etc. Early New England ship builders used the roots as "knees" in building small boats. There is also medicinal use. Densmore (ref. #5) in her study of the Minnesota Chippewa reports that finely chopped inner bark, fresh or dried, was useful on burns if applied in the morning, then partially washed off at night and renewed. The bark was also said to used for a laxative, a tonic and a diuretic. The active ingredient is a volatile oil that contains pinene, larixine and the ester bornylacetate.

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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