Flora of North America species comparison

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Larix lyallii

alpine larch, mélèze de Lyall, subalpine larch
Habit Trees to 25m; trunk to 1.2m diam.; crown sparse, conic.
Bark

furrowed and flaking into red- to purple-brown scales.
Branches

horizontal, occasionally pendulous, persistent on trunk when dead;

twigs strongly white- to yellow-tomentose for 2–3 years.
Buds

tomentose, scale margins ciliate.
Leaves

of short shoots 2–3.5cm × 0.6–0.8mm, 0.4–0.6mm thick, keeled abaxially, 2-angled adaxially;

resin canals 40–80µm from margins, each surrounded by 6–10 epithelial cells.
Seed(s)

cones 2.5–4(–5) × 1.1–1.9cm, on curved stalks 3–7 × 2.5–4mm;

scales 45–55, margins erose, abaxial surface tomentose;

bracts tipped by awn 4–5mm, exceeding mature scales by ca. 6mm.
Pollen

78–93µm diam.

Larix lyallii
Habitat Subalpine talus slopes
Elevation 1800–2400m (5900–7900ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; WA; AB; BC
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Larix lyallii and L. occidentalis (Larix sect. Multiseriales) are similar morphologically and have similar geographic ranges. Just how closely the two species are related has not been determined, but they probably originated from a common ancestor resembling L. potaninii Batalin. Although the geographic ranges of the two species overlap considerably, elevational differences of 150 to 300m usually separate them. Some morphologically intermediate specimens have been collected from Washington and Montana.

Because of its restricted distribution and growth at timberline, alpine larch has no commercial importance; it is often dwarfed and misshapen.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pinaceae > Larix
Sibling taxa
L. laricina, L. occidentalis
Name authority Parlatore: Conif. Nov. 3. (1863)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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