Pseudolarix

Pseudolarix; Temporal range: 131–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Cretaceous to recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Subfamily:	Abietoideae
Genus:	Pseudolarix; Gordon
Species
	P. amabilis (N. Nelson) Rehder; †P. japonica Tanai & Onoe; †P. wehrii Gooch;
Synonyms
	†Archaeolarix Teslenko; Chrysolarix Moore; Laricopsis Kent;

Pseudolarix is a

Late Eocene Buchanan Lake Formation on Axel Heiberg Island.^[1] P. japonica is known from Middle Miocene to Pliocene sediments in Japan and Miocene deposits of Korea.^[2] Fossils assigned to Pseudolarix as a genus date possibly as old as the Early Cretaceous Hauterivian stage in Mongolia.^[1]

Growth

It is a

coniferous tree reaching 30–40 m (98–131 ft) tall, with a broad conic crown. The shoots are dimorphic, with long shoots and short shoots similar to a larch, though the short shoots are not so markedly short, lengthening about 5 mm annually. The leaves

are bright green, 3–6 cm long and 2–3 mm broad, with two glaucous stomatal bands on the underside; they turn a brilliant golden yellow before falling in the autumn, hence the common name. The leaves are arranged spirally, widely spaced on long shoots, and in a dense whorl on the short shoots.

The

globe artichoke, 4–7 cm long and 4–6 cm broad, with pointed triangular scales; they mature about 7 months after pollination, when (like fir and cedar cones) they disintegrate to release the winged seeds

. The male cones, as in Keteleeria, are produced in umbels of several together in one bud.