Tamarack or Larch (Larix laricina)

Form

Height 30 to 60 feet, diameter 1 to 1 1/2 feet.

Bark

Rough and separates on the surface into thin, reddish-brown scales. Twigs are light brown and covered with numerous tiny spurs or short branches.

Leaf

Needles flat, soft and slender; length about 1 inch; borne in clusters or spur-like branches and distributed singly on terminal shoots; bright green in spring, soft and flexible, turning dull yellow in September or October just before falling; tamarack is the only conifer in Wisconsin that shed all its leaves each fall.

Fruit

Young cones red or greenish; mature cones light brown; width 1/2 inch, length 3/4 inch; nearly spherical; open in the fall of first year to liberate small, 1/8 inch, light brown, winged seeds. Cones often remain on trees several years after shedding seed.

Range

Chiefly in swamps in northern part of state in region of coniferous forests; occasionally in drier localities where it reaches largest size. Found scattered in cold swamps throughout southern portion of the state. Often found in association with black spruce, balsam fir and northern white cedar.

Wood

Light yellowish-brown, heavy, hard and very durable in contact with soil; used for posts, poles, ties, pulpwood and locally for lumber.

Notes

Large trees are rare as most old specimens were killed years ago by the larch sawfly. Crown has an open, pyramidal shape.