There are several species of larch in our country. All of them are quite similar in appearance, structure, and environmental conditions. What will be discussed further on about the Siberian larch, to a large extent, applies to other larch species as well.
Larch is a coniferous tree, which dumps its needles for the winter. In autumn, the larch crowns are brightly coloured, become lemon-yellow, and then the entire needles fall off. The thick bark protects the larch from damage in winter.
Larch branches in winter are easy to find out - they are distinguished by their peculiar buds in the form of small, almost spherical dark hillocks. On a separate branch all buds have the same appearance. However, in spring, completely different buds grow from different buds. From the uppermost bud appears a common shoot - a fairly long stem, carrying single needles. Side buds form a shortened shoot when they open - a bundle of many needles protruding in different directions. It is difficult to count the needles in the bundle - there are several dozen of them.
In spring, soon after birth, the larch needles are soft, tender and light green. By summer, they become a little darker. The needles of this tree are much softer than those of pine or spruce. Larch needles are not suitable for wintering, and the protective layer on the surface is quite thin, suitable only for a warm season.
Larch conifers are peculiar in shape and form - narrow thin plates, rounded at the end and not at all prickly.
Quite early in the spring larch leaves have young male and female cones on their branches. They come out long before the needles appear. Kidneys barely begin to blossom, and young little cones are clearly visible on almost naked branches.
Cones of different sexes differ in appearance. Men's buds are oval, yellowish, slightly larger than blueberry berries. Consists of small soft scales sitting on a common axis. Each flake has two oblong bags of pollen on the bottom side.
Female cones are two to three times larger than male cones, oval-cylindrical and pale green. On the common axis there are two types of scales - thin, covering and thick, seeded. They alternate with each other. Thin scales are longer with a "ponytail" at the end, and thicker ones are shorter and rounded.
If the cone is broken, we will see two small tubercles on it. These are seeds, rudiments of future seeds. Under each thick seed flake there is a thin, covering seed. The scales are always collected in pairs. Men's and women's larch larvae sit on their own branches, usually next to each other, on the same branch.
The further fate of the larvae of both sexes is different. Men's ones, after pollen is sprinkled out of them, dry up. And women's are growing strongly, and the scales of their villages. By the autumn, the buds become quite mature, strong and climb up on the branches.
Winged larch seeds mature by the autumn of the first year. At this time, they fall out of the buds, and seed dispersal lasts 2-3 weeks. And the cones themselves remain on the branches for a long time.
Seeds of larch firmly merges with the wing and is with him one whole. Separate them, as in pine and spruce, you can not. Larch seeds can germinate only after exposure to low temperatures (around zero), and they should be exposed to this effect in a damp state. If dry seeds are sown in spring, which have lain warm in winter, they will not sprout. When the larch is fully clothed with needles, the crown does not become thick. On the contrary, it is very loose and openworked. Larch tree is light-loving, the most demanding of our tree species. Siberian larch grows wild in Siberia, mainly in the West, but partly in the East, reaching the upper reaches of Lena and Lake Baikal.
To the north it goes to the polar limit of the forests, and to the south it goes to the steppes. This tree is very unpretentious to the climate and soil.
The larch wood is strong and resinous. It resists rotting well, especially under water. Therefore, larch is very good for piles of bridges and all kinds of underwater structures. The wood gives excellent building and ornamental wood, excellent fuel. Larch wood is better than pine wood.
However, the widespread use of wood in the economy is hampered by the fact that it is very heavy and sinking in the water. It is very resinous, which makes it very difficult to saw logs.
In addition to Siberian larch, there is also Daurian larch on the territory of our country. It forms forests in vast areas of Eastern Siberia. This tree is especially unpretentious with respect to the climate and soil, withstands the most severe frosts and grows well in permafrost. Daurian larch is the only tree species that can grow into a real large tree in such severe conditions.
Russian larch is less widespread. It is found in the north-eastern regions of the European part of the USSR, in the Urals and in the Urals.
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