The Larch, though one of the coniferous trees, is not an evergreen. It
is generally known in this country as the Hacmatack, a name given it by
the Indians. In favorable situations it attains a great height, though
we are familiar with it as a tree of but ordinary size and stature. Its
branches are very numerous, and irregularly disposed at right angles
with the main stem, and not in very apparent whorls. The terminal
branches are small and numerous, making considerable spray, but without
much character. The American and the European Larch do not differ in
their manner of putting forth their larger branches, nor in their
botanical characters. They are distinguished, however, by an important
difference in the style of their secondary branches. The European tree
has a graceful hanging spray, drooping perpendicularly from its
horizontal boughs, and swinging in the wind like that of the Norway
spruce. The American tree has a shorter spray, not in the least pendent,
with an appearance of more sturdiness, and less formality of outline. It
displays, therefore, less of that beauty which is caused by flowing
lines; on the other hand, it exhibits more firmness in its general
aspect, and is a more stately tree. I prefer the American Larch because
it departs further from that primness which distinguishes the coniferous
trees. As it increases in height, it loses its tapering summit, and
forms a head of flattened and irregular shape.
The Larch bears no part in romantic history. Neither the ancient poets
nor historians say much about it. Hence it is probable that it was not
abundant in the forests of the southern part of Europe in the days of
Homer and Virgil. Even its importance in furnishing the most durable
wood for naval purposes is a discovery of modern times, and not until a
very late period was it employed as an ornamental tree. The Larch is
reputed in Europe to surpass all other trees as a fertilizer of the soil
by the decomposition of its foliage. Another of its advantages, when
used for plantations, is its thrifty habit on lofty sites, having a more
elevated range than any other tree of equal importance. Gilpin remarks
of the European tree: “It claims the Alps and the Apennines for its
native country, where it thrives in higher regions of the air than any
other tree of its consequence is known to do, hanging over rocks and
precipices which have never been visited by human feet. Often it is
felled by some Alpine peasant and thrown athwart some yawning chasm,
where it affords a tremendous passage from cliff to cliff, while the
cataract, roaring many fathoms below, is seen only in surges of rising
vapor.”
The American Larch tends to uniformity of shape when young and to
variety when old. Yet the fine pyramidal forms of the young trees, and
the fantastic and irregular shapes of those of older growth, are equally
characteristic. The foliage is of a light green with a bluish tinge,
turning to a deep orange in November, just before it falls. The bright
crimson cones of the Larch, that appear in June, may be reckoned among
its minor beauties. This tree is more abundant in Maine and New
Hampshire than in any other part of the United States, though even there
it is scarce compared with other conifers. Above the St. Lawrence,
however, as far as Hudson’s Bay, it forms assemblages of several miles
in extent.