Larix gmelinii

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Dahurian larch
Larix gmelinii
Dahurian larch forest, Kolyma region, Arctic northeast Siberia

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Larix
Species:
L. gmelinii
Binomial name
Larix gmelinii

Larix gmelinii, the Dahurian larch or Gmelin larch, is a species of larch native to eastern Siberia and adjacent northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China (Heilongjiang), South Korea and North Korea.

Description

Larix gmelinii is a medium-sized

coniferous tree reaching 10–30 m tall, rarely 40 m, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The crown is broad conic; both the main branches and the side branches are level, the side branches only rarely drooping. The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 5–30 cm long) and bearing several buds, and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. The leaves
are needle-like, light green, 2–3 cm long; they turn bright yellow to orange before they fall in the autumn, leaving the variably downy reddish-brown shoots bare until the next spring.

The cones are erect, ovoid, 1–2 cm (rarely 2.5 cm) long, with 15–25 moderately reflexed seed scales; they are green (rarely purple) when immature, turning brown and opening to release the seeds when mature, 3–5 months after pollination. The old cones commonly remain on the tree for many years, turning dull grey-black.

Taxonomy and systematics

The scientific name honours Johann Georg Gmelin. Due to the species' variability, it has acquired numerous synonyms in the botanical literature, including L. cajanderi, L. dahurica, L. kamtschatica, L. komarovii, L. kurilensis, L. lubarskii, L. ochotensis.

Dahurian larch intergrades with the closely related Siberian larch L. sibirica of central and western Siberia where their ranges meet along the Yenisei Valley; the resulting hybrid is named Larix × czekanowskii.

Varieties

As of April 2022, Plants of the World Online accepts four varieties:[2]

Ecology and uses

Dahurian larch forest, Kolyma region, arctic northeast Siberia

Larix gmelinii forms enormous forests in the eastern Siberian

-70 °C in the Oymyakon–Verkhoyansk region of Yakutia.[5] One tree in Yakutia was recorded as being 919 years old.[6]

Dahurian larch is occasionally grown in botanical gardens in Europe and North America; it is not an easy tree to grow in areas with mild winters as it is adapted to a long period of winter rest; the warm winter weather in Britain can tempt it into leaf as early as the start of January, with the tender young leaves then being killed by the next frost. In its native region, daily minimum temperatures above freezing do not occur until late May or June, with no further frost until the brief summer is over.

See also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on larches

Larix gmelinii cone scales are used as food by the

tortrix moth Cydia illutana
.

Gallery

  • Young female cone and emerging needles
    Young female cone and emerging needles
  • Bark
    Bark
  • Short shoots, just after bud break
    Short shoots, just after bud break
  • Shoots in fall
    Shoots in fall
  • Larix gmelinii var. olgensis in fall, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, accession #365-97*A.
    Larix gmelinii var. olgensis in fall, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, accession #365-97*A.
  • Old female cone
    Old female cone

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42310A2971338.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  3. ^ "Larix olgensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Поспелова Е. Б., Поспелов И. Н. Лиственница Гмелина. Флора Таймыра (Информационно-справочная система)". Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  5. ISBN 9780316042918
    . It survives the winter cold of the far north, standing in the open at temperatures of ninety below zero, not counting windchill. ... Make no mistake: this is one tough tree.
  6. ^ Byazrov, L.G. Самое старое дерево России растет в Якутии [The oldest tree in Russia grows in Yakutia]. БОТАНИКА (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2007-09-29.

External links

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