Larix laricina

Native

Wet, poorly drained sites, swamps, bogs, muskeg. Shade intolerant.

40′ to 70′

This is the only deciduous conifer native to Minnesota. It is fast-growing and short-lived, usually no more than 150 years old. It rises on a single trunk from shallow, spreading roots. In Minnesota mature trees are usually 40′ to 70′ tall and 14″ to 20″ in diameter at breast height. Large individuals can be 100′ to 115′ tall, 36″ to 42″ in diameter, and 230 to 240 years old.

The crown on young trees is narrow, cone-shaped, and open. On older trees the crown becomes irregular.

The trunk is slender and straight and extends to the top of the tree.

The bark on young trees is smooth and gray. On mature trees the bark is rough, reddish-brown, thin, and flaky, with small scales.

There are 2 types of branches. Branches of the current year are long and have scattered, single leaves. Branches of prior years develop lateral, dwarf, secondary branches. These secondary branches are slow-growing and produce crowded clusters of many leaves. Principal branches are horizontal or sometimes slightly ascending.

The twigs are orangish-brown and hairless.

The buds are dark red, hairless, and subtended by a ring of hair-like bracts.

The needle-like leaves are soft, pointed, slender, ¾″ to 1½″ long, and deciduous. They are flat on top and keeled below, 3-sided in cross section. They are bright green in the spring, bluish green in the summer, and turn dull yellow and fall off in September or October. They are borne in a tight spiral of 12 to 30 needles on a short, wart-like, spur branch. On terminal shoots they also appear singly. In winter tamarack can be identified by the distinctive spur branches.

Male and female cones are borne on the same tree. Pollen (male) cones are spherical and yellow. They are borne singly on 1- or 2-year-old branchlets. Female cones at the time of pollination are almost spherical and red. They are borne singly, mostly on 2- or 4-year-old branchlets, but also on 5- to 10-year-old or older branchlets. On young trees they appear on 1-year-old branchlets. They appear in all parts of the crown. Pollination takes place in late April or early May. Male cones shed pollen then wither and fall away.

Female seed cones mature mid-August to September. Mature seed cones are light brown, woody, egg-shaped, symmetrical, and ⅜″ to ¾″ long. They are on short, stout, curved stalks. They are covered with 10 to 30, but usually 12 to 15, scales. Mature scales are smooth and rounded at the tip.

There are 2 seeds in each fertile scale. The seeds are 1 ⁄16″ to 3 ⁄32″ long, with a ⅛″ to ¼″ long, chestnut-brown wing. Most seeds are shed in the first 3 weeks of September, with the remainder being shed by the end of October.

The clusters of 12 to 30 needles on short, wart-like, spur branches, and the needles that turn yellow and fall off in the fall, distinguish this from all other needle-bearing trees in Minnesota.

The champion tamarack in Minnesota is on private property in Brainerd, in Crow Wing County. In 2004 it was measured at 71′ tall and 133″ in circumference (42″ in diameter).