''Larix sibirica'', the Siberian larch or Russian larch, is a frost-hardy tree native to western
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, from close to the
Finnish border east to the
Yenisei valley in central
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, where it
hybridises with the
Dahurian larch ''L. gmelinii'' of eastern Siberia; the hybrid is known as ''
Larix × czekanowskii''.
Description
It is a medium-size to large
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
coniferous
Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
reaching 20–50 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The crown is conic when young, becoming broad with age; the main branches are level to upswept, with the side branches often pendulous. The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 10–50 cm long) and bearing several
buds, and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. It has bimorphic needles, with needles on new growth borne singly and arranged in a spiral around the branch and needles on older wood borne in clusters of 15-40 needles on short spurs. It is most easily distinguished from the closely related
European larch by the shoots being downy (hairless in European larch). The
leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
are needle-like, light green, 2–5 cm long, and turn bright yellow before they fall in the autumn, leaving the pale yellow-buff shoots bare until the next spring.
The male and female
cones are borne separately on the same tree; pollination is in early spring. The male cones are solitary, yellow, globose to oblong, 4–8 mm diameter, and produce wingless pollen. The mature female cones are erect, ovoid-conic, 2–5 cm long, with 30-70 erect or slightly incurved (not reflexed) and downy seed scales; they are green variably flushed red when immature, turning brown and opening to release the winged
seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s when mature, 4–6 months after pollination. The old cones commonly remain on the tree for many years, turning dull grey-black. The minimum seed-bearing age is 10–15 years.
Uses
Because of its rot resistance, larch wood is especially valuable for posts, poles,
railroad tie sleepers, and
mine props.
It is also used in many
velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...
s around the world as the track surface including the
Manchester Velodrome
Manchester Velodrome is an indoor Olympic-standard cycle-racing track in Manchester, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the National Cycling Centre, the facility has been home to British Cycling since 1994, coinciding with the nation's rise ...
[ ] and the Velodrome
Krylatskoye in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
.
It is grown in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the northern
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to a limited extent, first cultivated there in 1806. It was also introduced to Iceland and Greenland.
It is faster-growing than many other coniferous trees in cold regions, but requires full sunlight. When grown in
plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
s it should be kept widely spaced, and intensive thinning is required.
Resin of siberian larch (as well as of
siberian cedar
''Pinus sibirica'', or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the low ...
) is used as a natural
chewing gum
Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...
, which is commercially produced by several manufacturers in Russia.
Wild Siberian Larch Resin Natural Chewing Gum
/ref>
:''See also List of Lepidoptera that feed on larches''
''Larix sibirica'' cone scales are used as food by the caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
s of the tortrix moth
The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...
'' Cydia illutana''.
Gallery
File:Larix sibirica female cone.jpg, Young female cone
File:Larix sibirica cones.jpg, Female cone (left), male cone (right)
File:Larix sibirica short shoots.jpg, Short shoots after bud break
File:Crowns of Siberian larch in winter.jpg, Crowns of Siberian larch in winter
References
External links
*
''Larix sibirica'' images at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Plant Image Database
{{Authority control
sibirica
Trees of Russia
Trees of Siberia
Trees of Europe
Trees of continental subarctic climate
Least concern plants
Deciduous conifers
Taxa named by Carl Friedrich von Ledebour