Larch, despite its name, is a coniferous plant from the family of pine trees. She has a single needy for the winter, so you can not call it evergreen. Only in the case of larch seedlings, the needles persist throughout the year. This leads to the suggestion that the ability to drop needles was acquired by the plant due to adaptation to changing climate conditions.
In what natural zone does larch grow?
On the question of where and in what forests larch grows in nature, it can be summarized as follows: it likes mixed forests located in Western and Northern Europe up to the Carpathians . In general, there are many types of trees, the range of which is slightly different.
Where larch grows in Russia: most often it can be found in Siberia and the Far East. The plant is demanding of lighting. It does not grow on shaded areas.
On what soil larch grows: the tree is absolutely undemanding to the soil. It can be found both on swamps and on dry soils and even in permafrost conditions. However, the best soil for larch is sufficiently moist and well drained.
Differences between larch and pine
In the first place, larch drops needles for the winter, and pine - no. Pine is an evergreen coniferous tree, changing the shade of needles at different times of the year.
The needles are soft and not long at larch - up to 4.5 cm. It is spirally spaced on shoots with beams of 20-40 needles. Her needles are not pricked at all. Needle pine reaches 5 cm, is located along the entire trunk in bundles of 2 pieces.
In larch, the trunk is more powerful, sometimes in diameter it reaches 1.8 m. Yes, and it lives twice as long as the pine. The crown is more transparent, whereas the pine is thick and more fluffy.
The cones on the larch are very beautiful, round in shape. In the pine they are conical.