BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Larix decidua | European Larch 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
European larch is an introduced deciduous conifer.  Mature height
usually ranges from 30 to 130 feet (9-40 m) in the United States and
Canada; larger individuals have occasionally been reported, particularly
from Europe (up to 177 feet [54 m]) [10,17].  The needles are spirally
arranged in fascicles of 30 to 65 needles, on short shoots.  The bark of
young trees is thin, smooth, developing fissures as it matures.  On
older trees the bark is very flaky and heavily ridged with wide fissures
[14,15].  In the Alps, the bark at the base of very old trunks is up to
1 foot (30 cm) thick [3].  The crown of young trees is symmetrical,
open, and narrowly conic.  Old trees often have large, buttressed low
branches that run level for 8 to 10 feet (2.4-3 m) before turning upward
[10,15].  European larch is characterized as deep-rooted [25].

European larch exhibits rapid early growth and occasionally early
senescence (at 30 to 40 years of age), particularly in mixed stands.
The average age at senescence is between 100 and 150 years of age [10];
ages of 600 years or more have been reported for European larch in the
Alps [3,25].  The oldest European larch on record was 672 years old in
1955.  Record height for European larch is reported as 184 feet (56 m)
for a specimen in Baden, Germany [25].  


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
European larch is monoecious.  Minimum age of first reproduction is
around 10 years.  Large seed crops are produced at 3- to 10-year
intervals.  The seeds are wind dispersed.  Most larch (Larix spp.) seeds
germinate without pretreatment.  European larch seeds can be stored for
3 to 7 years.  Viable seeds may remain in the cone for 1 to 2 years
[17].  Stored seed germination rates are improved by stratification at
32 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit (0-4 deg C) for 20 to 60 days [14].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
European larch grows best on uniformly moist, deep, fertile soils.  It
does not do well on pure sand [10].  Preferred soil textures include
loamy sands, loams, and silty loams.  European larch does not occur on
poorly drained or very wet sites [2].  It tolerates soils with a lower
pH limit ranging from 4.0 to 5.0 [10,21], and will tolerate pH of up to
7.8 [25].  In the central Alps, the upper elevational limit of European
larch ranges from 6,500 to 8,000 feet (1,981-2,438 m).  The lower
elevational limit in the Alps is around 1,400 feet (427 m) [3];
plantations at lower elevations often suffer from larch canker due to
the increased moisture [25].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

European larch is intolerant of shade at any age [10].  Its open crown
transmits a considerable amount of light so that it does not tend to
suppress more tolerant understory species [25].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
The growing season of European larch in North America is at least 100
days, longer than that of many native conifers.  Bud burst occurs in
early spring, before the ground has completely thawed.  Height growth
continues at an appreciable rate until September [1].

The female cones appear before leaf-out in early spring and pollination
occurs from March to May or June [14,17].  The seed cones ripen from
September to December of the same year, and the seeds are dispersed from
September to spring [17].  In Great Britain, European larch cones do not
open until spring [3].  European larch needles die and are abscised in
early November in the British Isles; some are retained through December [15].

Related categories for Species: Larix decidua | European Larch