Eastern Larch is the only deciduous conifer native to Ohio. And yet, I seldom see it in Central Ohio. Baldcypress and Dawn Redwood are far more common, in my experience, but they’re mostly seen in landscaping.
Tamarack Needles
As one would expect of a conifer, American Larch (Tamarack, Larix laricina) has needles, but they don’t occur in bundles of 2, 3, or 5, as in the case with pines. Nor do they occur in straight rows, as with Baldcypress. Tamarack needles are whorled, and grow in clusters of 10 to 20, and thus, resemble true cedars (Cedrus). But cedars have evergreen needles, while Tamarack sheds its needles in winter. (Remember that Ohio’s native “cedars”, Eastern Redcedar and Arborvitae (Northern White Cedar), aren’t really cedars, and their needles aren’t whorled. True cedars with their whorled, evergreen needles are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa). Additionally, Tamarack needles grow at the end of woody spur shoots, similar to the spur shoots of Gingko. Larch and true cedars are the only conifers with needles at the end of spur shoots.
of woody spur shoots. Photo by Mort Schmidt.
Cones & Bark
Larix laricina trees have small female cones, approximately ½ to ¾ inch long. The cones are initially red, but turn brown, and may persist on the tree for several years. The trees are monoecious and have female seed cones and male pollen cones on the same tree. Dioecious trees, such as Eastern Redcedar have separate male and female trees. The cones are wind-pollinated. John Laird Farrar’s Trees in Canada tells us that Tamarack starts producing seeds at around 10 years, and the tree lives for around 150 years. Larch bark is thin, reddish-brown, and scaly.
Photos by Mort Schmidt.
Mature Tamaracks typically have a height of 40 to 80 feet and a trunk diameter of approximately 1 to 2 feet. Ohio’s Champion Tamarack, located in Summit County, has a height of 88 feet, a trunk diameter of 1.8 feet, and a crown width of 35 feet.
Tamarack ID
ID Summary: Conifer with deciduous, whorled needles at the end of spur shoots, and ½- to ¾-inch seed cones.
Similar Trees: True cedars are the only other trees with whorled needles on spur shoots, but cedar needles are evergreen. The seed cones of the popular Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) and Deodar Cedar (C. deodara) are larger, exceeding 1.5 inches in length. True cedars are not native, and are only found in landscaping.
Range
According to Lucy Braun’s The Woody Plants of Ohio, only three species of Larch are native to the U.S., and Tamarack is the only one found in the East. Braun’s range maps show Eastern Larch in 11 of Ohio’s northern counties. Tamaracks are the northernmost tree in North America, and Eurasian larches are the northernmost trees in the world.
In its southern range, which includes northern Ohio, Larix laricina is typically found in swamps and bogs, in wet soils associated with sphagnum and peat. Tamaracks can survive winter temperatures as low as -80 degrees Fahrenheit. Tamarack does well on somewhat drier ground in the colder, high-latitude and high-altitude areas, perhaps due to the lack of competition from other trees. In these extreme conditions, they are more shrub- than tree-like, with a height of only a few feet.
Because Tamaracks commonly live in wet soils, they have not evolved much resistance to fire. Because they are also intolerant of shade, they often inhabit barren areas, only to be crowded out by late-succession trees, providing they, too, can tolerate wet and cold. Black Spruce (Picea mariana) is one such tree that is commonly associated with Tamarack.
The Columbus, Ohio Street Tree Inventory has no listing for Tamarack.
Tamarack Wood
Tamarack lumber has a Janka hardness of 590 lbf and a density of 0.59 g/cc, according to the Wood Database, compared to the median of my list of 73 Ohio trees of 1,075 lbf and 0.64 g/cc. This hardness is on par with Black Walnut, and harder than a number of so-called “hardwoods”, including Buckeye and Cottonwood. The Wood Database lists “snowshoes, utility poles, posts, rough lumber, boxes/crates, and paper” as uses for Eastern Larch lumber. Larch wood is relatively soft and light, but can be hard to work due to its high silica content, which dulls blades. It also has a pronounced difference in hardness between rings, resulting in uneven sanded surfaces. Larch is highly durable (rot-resistant). Western Larch (Larix occidentalis) grows much larger than Eastern Larch and accounts for most of the larch lumber.
Today, the wood is used for pulp, posts, and fuel, but it is not a major lumber species. Larch’s durability made it especially useful for railroad ties in the day before wood was treated with creosote. American Larch has shallow roots, resulting in right-angle bends in the roots. This, and Tamarack’s great rot-resistance, made it ideal for joinery in boats. Tamarack bark is high in tannic acid, and its extracts were used for tanning leather.
The USDA Silvics Manual, Conifers, lists several interesting uses for Tamarack wood: “In interior Alaska young tamarack stems are used for dogsled runners, boat ribs, and fishtraps. In northern Alberta the branches are used to make duck and goose decoys”.
Spike Carlsen’s A Splintered History of Wood discusses the historic use of Larch for making water pipes. Small-diameter pipes were made by simply hollowing out logs, tapering their ends, and butting them together. Larger pipes were made with staves, like those used for barrels. Tamarack was sometimes used, but in fact the wood didn’t need to be especially durable. As long as the pipes were continuously buried and filled with water, the lack of oxygen allowed them to last for decades, or even centuries. Carlsen goes on to say that fire fighters used to tap into the log pipes to get water. Afterwards, they filled the holes with wooden cylinders, and this might be the source of the term “fire plug”.
Use by Indigenous Peoples
The American Indians used Eastern Larch in many ways, according to the Native American Ethnobotany Database, including:
- Algonquin – Infusion of needles and bark to treat coughs. Infusion of young branches served as a laxative,
- Anticosti – Decoction of bark mixed with other plants for kidney troubles,
- Chippewa – Applied a poultice of inner bark to burns. Infusions of bark used to treat anemia. Tamarack roots used to weave bags,
- Cree – Mixed Tamarack with other tree products to induce vomiting. Boiled inner bark was applied to wounds to draw out infection. They used the wood to make toboggans and they used rotten wood to generate smoke for darkening hides,
- Iroquois – Made decoctions of Eastern Larch as an analgesic, and to treat rheumatism, colds, and gonorrhea,
- Malecite – Tuberculosis remedy. They also used the wood to make arrow shafts,
- Menominee – An infusion of bark was given to horses to treat distemper,
- Micmac – Used the wood for kindling and fuel,
- Ojibwa – Used dried leaves as an inhalant and fumigator. Roots used to weave bags and to sew canoes,
- Potawatomi – Mixed inner bark with feed to make horse’s hide loose. Bark infusion taken to treat inflammation and to warm the body.
According to Diana Wells’ Lives of the Trees, in northern Europe and Asia, Larch inner bark was sometimes grated, mixed with broth, and eaten.
Medicinal Uses
The Botanical.com website lists several medicinal uses “The bark used as a decoction is laxative, tonic, diuretic and alterative, useful in obstructions of the liver, rheumatism, jaundice and some cutaneous diseases. A decoction of the leaves has been used for piles, haemoptysis, menorrhagia, diarrhoea and dysentery”.
Laura C. Martin’s The Folklore of Trees & Shrubs lists the following medicinal uses for tea made from the bark of larch:
- A gargle for sore throats,
- A laxative and general tonic when imbibed,
- A headache cure, applied externally.
Additionally, the bark made a poultice for treating burns and skin injuries, while gum from the sap was chewed for indigestion.
The Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America indicates that the Cree people used Tamarack as an antidiabetic, and that modern research shows that it decreases glycemia and improves sensitivity to insulin. Also, bark extracts are of interest for treating colon cancer.
Lives of the Trees quotes John Josselyn, who was trying to encourage prospective settlers to go to the New World, that the liquid extracted from Tamarack cones, “comes nearest of any to right turpentine”. He described it as “singularly good to heal wounds and draw out the malice”.
Faunal Associations
Illinois Wildflowers and other sources include the following faunal associations:
- Woolly conifer aphids, long-horned beetles, and bark beetles,
- Larch casebearer moths, larch lappet moths, and larch tree crickets (which obviously depend heavily on Larches). The non-native larch sawfly is the most problematic insect pest,
- Seed-eating birds, including red crossbills and pine siskins,
- Red squirrels, voles, and shrews also eat the seeds, while white-tailed deer occasionally browse on shoots, and
- Porcupines eat Tamarack inner bark, sometimes killing the tree.
According to Tree Spirit Wisdom, Larch reminds us to rest and recover. The appearance of needles indicates a time of rejuvenation. In the Tungus Evenki language of Siberia, the larch tree was called the World Tree. It was a ladder connecting the Earth to the North Star, and it helped shamans navigate the night skies, connecting the inside and outside realms of reality. In 1894, the 11,000-year-old, 17-feet tall Shigir Idol, carved of larch, was discovered in a peat bog on the eastern slope of the Middle Ural Mountains in Russia. The idol is the oldest known wooden sculpture in the world. Tree Spirit Wisdom goes on to say that, “Larch reminds us that when our world seems to be spinning out of control we can always connect to our core. Our core is our soul, and our soul knows that this is only another moment in time”.
Alexander Porteous’s The Forest in Folklore and Mythology tells of a sacred Larch in Tyrol, Austria. It was believed that anyone who injured the tree would also be so-injured, and that the perpetrator would not heal until the tree was healed. In reverence to the Larch, no one would quarrel or swear near it. I imagine that American Larches cut for railroad ties and telegraph poles heard lots of swearing, hopefully without injury to the workers!
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You can also listen to my talks on Ohio Broadleaf Tree Identification on YouTube, Part 1 and Part 2.
