Habitat

• native to Japan
• Zone 4

Habit and Form

• deciduous conifer
• 80' to 90' tall by 30' to 40' wide
• very open conical shape
• slender pendulous branchlets on heavy lateral branches
• fine to medium foliage texture, coarse in winter
• moderate to fast growth rate

Summer Foliage

• deep green needles with two with stomatal lines on underside
• 1" to 1.5" long
• needles spirally arranged on long shoots
• needles in clusters of 40 or more on short spurs
• buds are brown, pointed and conical in shape with fringed scales
• buds are resinous

Autumn Foliage

• needles turn gold before dropping
• typically showy

Flowers

• monoecious
• both male and female strobili cover tree in early spring
  • female: egg-shaped and about 0.25 to 0.75" long, in reds, pinks, yellows, or green
  • male: smaller and yellow
• moderately attractive

Fruit

• medium brown cones, stalked
• 1" to 1.5" long
• scales are overlapped, forming a rosette appearance
• cones have reflexed scales
• cones are persistent

Bark

• grayish brown outer bark in thin, elongated plates
• inner bark is a reddish color
• dark brown young stems are furrowed and usually covered with some brown pubescence

Culture

• easily transplanted when dormant
• well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral soil is best, but can tolerate poorly drained soils
• should be planted in the open, in full sun

Landscape Uses

• open areas: golf courses, campuses, parks
• specimen
• good fall color

Liabilities

• needs sufficient room to develop ideal form and habit
• less hardy than L. decidua
• larch case-bearer, woolly aphid and sawfly are pest problems
• accumulation of cones and debris on ground
• intolerant of shade, drought, pollution, and chalky soils

ID Features

• spurs on branches
• cones have a rosette shape
• cones have reflexed scales
• red-brown shoots
• 2 white stomatal lines on underside of needles
• cones are persistent on tree

Propagation

• by seeds, grafts, and cuttings
• cultivars: by grafting

Cultivars/Varieties

Numerous types have been discovered, but all one finds usually are the weeping cultivars.

'Blue Rabbit' - A shrubby form with irregular growth, this cultivar has bluish needles.

'Diana' - This is a very unusual form with contorted, twisted branches that resemble Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (Harry Lauder's Walking Stick).

'Pendula' (also listed as 'Inversa') - This is an umbrella name for various weeping larches of uncertain parentage. They usually form mop-headed small trees with distinctly pendulous branches.