Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Rainy Days

OK, we've just been through two rainy days with temperatures going up and down and up and down and there are flurries in the forecast for tonight. Who knows what will will happen? Here was the picture from our library room window this morning.



The tree with the yellow needles is a European Larch (Larix decidua) which often goes erroneously under the name of Tamarack. The Tamarack is the native larch (Larix laricina). The two species look quite similar from a distance. One needs to check the cones to make sure. Below is a slightly closer look, still through our rain covered window.



The larches below are on the next propety to the south. Chances are that they too are the European variety as L. decidua grows wild in our area.



Here is a closer look at the needles of a young tree on our property.



All of the larches loose their needles in the fall and grow new ones in the spring. They also have cones so they are conifers. There are at least 5 other larches in Canada in addition to the two mentioned above.

3 comments:

robin andrea said...

The view out your library window is so lovely, very idyllic.
We have two of those larches here, but don't know if they are European or the Tamarack. They are definitely conifers that yellow, and lose all of their needles by winter. I'll have to do some research.
While I was waiting in the dentist office today, I picked up a Sierra Club magazine and saw the photography of James Balog. His tree photography made me think of yours. You might want to check him out: jamesbalog.com

Ontario Wanderer said...

I'd be interested in what kind of larches you have. According to the maps in my "Trees in Canada" book, the Tamarack (L.larician) does not grow as far south as you are in the west. There is the Western Larch (L.occidentalis) and Subalpine Larch (L.lyallii) in the west.

I'll have a look at the Balog site. Thanks for the information.

Crowe said...

Looks like you've got the rain that was plaguing us for weeks until last Monday.

The larch is one of my favourite trees and I like your rainy photos of them.