European Larach - LARIX DECIDUA

Larach bracts

European larach is one of the first trees to burst into leaf in spring. its timber is strong and durable.
BARK Gray - brown, cracking with age. 
LEAF Flat, soft needles, blunt or short - pointed tips, bright green.
FLOWER Males yellow; females pink - red

FRUIT Brown, egg-shaped cones, with smooth scales and visible bracts.

While other species have more important requirements, larach is a pioneer species which grows grows on poor soils that it helps enrich.

Larix decidua is a distinct variety from the Larix species and the most common in our regions. It owes its vernacular name of European Larch or Common Larch to the word ''mel'' meaning honey in the language of the Dauphinois, where it particularly thrives. 

The conifer, a member of the Pinaceae family, like cedar, spruce, pine or the fir, is an exception among its kind. It loses its needles in autumn, which turn yellow, red and brown before dropping. It is the only European conifer to have this particularity. 

It is by the fall of its needles that it favors the formation of humus favorable to the reception of the seeds of other conifers.

In adulthood, it reaches a height of 30 to 40 meters. Its bark is greyish, cracked, and very thick on old subjects.

The needles are somewhat leathery, inserted in a rosette on the branches short or separately on the twigs long. They are concentrated in tufts composed of 35 to 40 needles along the twigs.

Female species, it is at the end of spring that the kittens appear. Males can be recognized by their yellow color. They are small, numerous, and hang below the branches. They distribute their pollen with the wind and the insects that will pollinate the female kittens. Fewer in number, these are a little larger, bright red in color, and facing the sky.

The crones are ovoid, brown, and measure 3 to 4 cm. Their fine, pointed scales protect the brown, shiny, winged seeds, which they release at the end of summer. They remain attached to the branches for a  long time, and it is not uncommon to observe cones from the current year and the previous year at the same time. Squirrels, woodpeckers or crossbills favor their dispersal.

Slow growing tree, it takes 20 to 30 years to reach a height of 3 to 4 meter. Its port is conical, narrow, and its dropping branches, like those of spruce. It can live 600 years.

This pioneer species grows on soil poor to enrich it. Its largest natural formations are located in Central Europe. In the Alps, it grows between  1400 and 2400 meters. 

In its natural state, on the adret (sunny side), it is found below 1400 meters in the company of Scots pine, and on the ubac, it accompanies stone pine and spruce above 2000 m.  It is still found in the company of rowan or country maple. This mountain species was however planted in the plains to take advantage of its wood and its ability to enrich poor soils.

This tree is very resistant to cold and can be acclimatized to a high rainfall. as well as a lesser. However, it does not support compact and hydromorphic soils which facilitate its infestation by larch canker. It does not support summer droughts quite well, but tolerates very high-temperature variations, up to 50 ° in the same day, in its natural mountain range. Its deep and highly developed root system fixes it firmly to the ground. It, therefore, needs deep soil to be able to settle there completely. It thus has exceptional wind resistance, so much so that windfall is very rarely deplored in larch trees.

This tree is sometimes called the oak of the mountain, because of the exceptional wood it produces. The fruit of slow growth it is the most durable and solid of the coniferous woods. Rot-proof, it is used for the design of boats, for frames, roof shingles, railway ties. Larch also has good medical properties thanks to its needles. Whatever the season is, larch is an elegant tree. It symbolizes maternal love because it very often offers food and shelter to squirrels, and birds often shelter there. Because of its impermeable bark, the owl appreciates it to house.

The European Larch is therefore the original gift for Mother's Day; a gift that embellishes every year! 

Silver Fir - ABIES ALBA

 

ABIES ALBA  - Silver fir

HIGHT up to 46 m

TYPE evergreen

OCCURENCE C. Europe

The branches at the top of this tree often divide, giving it a ''stork's nest''  appearance. Its resin is a constituent of turpentine. 

BARK Gray, smooth, cracking with age.

LEAF  Flat needles, dark green above with two silver bands below. Needle 1,5 - 3 cm long.

FLOWER Males: yellow, grouped on underside of shoots; Females: green.

FRUIT Erect, cylindrical brown cone.

The Silver Fir is resistant to wind and cold. Furthermore, it is indifferent to the chemical richness of the soil. The species also has two other advantages: it is a thermophilic essence that has the ability to germinate with 1% light and it is widely distributed to ensure its renewal.

In addition, the Silver Fir is a honey plan that does not produce nectar, but honeydew. A substance rich in sugar, with little water. Bees use it in addition to pollen to produce honey rich in mineral salts. It is essential for bees and therefore for all biodiversity.

Silver fir - description
It is the tallest European tree and its trunk can reach 2 m in diameter. Its trunk is straight and its branches horizontal. Its bark is smooth, silvery grey has small pockets of resin, then cracks with age. 

Its leaves are dark green colored needles above and are marked by a strong midrib below, separating two silvery-white bands. 

The male flowers, located under the twigs, are small, bright yellow conical catkins. Whereas its female flowers, which will form cones, are green and arise at the top of the twigs. 

Its taproots adapt to relatively wet and heavy soils, which they stabilize. They make fir a species much less vulnerable to uprooting by wind than spruce.

Silver Fir - Species requirements

Thermophilic essence, the fir is after the yew the most shade-tolerant species. A fir seed germinates with barely 1% daylight. Subjected to competition from dominant trees, a young Silver fir tree can put its growth on hold for 100 to 200 years while waiting for more favorable conditions. Sensitive to early and late frosts, this tree is also sensitive to drought.

The Silver FIr's wood

The silver fir wood is slightly pinkish white and much appreciated for making frames and joinery products. the fir's wood is however often shunned in favor of the spruce, considered to be of lower quality. However, it has excellent technological qualities and several advantages over spruce. its ease of impregnation, its good durability, and its weather resistance make it suitable for use in environments exposed to humidity, such as in hydraulic and underground construction, for glulam, windows, or saunas. 

The Silver Fir's symbolism

The flowers of the fir indicate the elevation of the spirit, the spiritual ideal. This evergreen tree is a messenger who encourages us to continue on our way, to endure the problems of existence and its branches support the frozen point of the snow. The tree represents the energy of resistance and the light of hope, which it gives to those who know how to capture them.It is therefore the ideal gift, a good luck gift, to wish courage and strength but above all in order to insist on never giving up halfway regardless of the obstacles. 

CONIFERS

They can bear seed in distinctive cones. First time they appeared in the fossil record in the Permian period over 200 million years ago, and they are still abundant today.

There are seven families of living conifers, containing over 600 species. They are widely distributed, dominating forest habitats in the earth's colder, drier regions which other trees cannot survive.

The leaves of conifers vary widely. Conifer leaves are usually covered in a waxy layer, and the stomata (tiny pores) lie beneath the leaf surface. These leaf characteristics prevent water loss and help conifers resist drought. In most conifers, the leaves develop on long shoots and are arranged spirally and alternately. 

Conifers produce distinct male and female cones on the same or separate trees.

These function as flowers. Female cones tend to be much larger than males.  Male conifer flowers may appear in the leaf axils or on new shoots. They usually wither away after the pollinating period has ended.

Male and female cones

Conifers are wind-pollinated. After pollination, the scales of the female cone close tightly, until the developed seeds are released from the mature cones (now serving as the fruit). In the “closed-cone pines,” the heat produced by a forest fire is usually needed to liberate the seeds. The Taxaceae (yew family) do not have cones: each seed is enclosed in a fleshy coating, known as an aril.

 

Conifers are known for attaining enormous heights. Giants of the conifer world include giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), and the grand fir (Abies grandis), which may reach a height of 200 ft (60 m). 

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Trees provide food in the form of fruits and nuts, flavorings, and even edible flowers and leaves. Their protective bark provides not only medicines but also resins, barkcloth, and crok. Their heartwood and water - transport systems produce long-lasting wood that is used to make furniture and the pulp for all modern books and newspapers. Trees provide the bases for the perfume industry.

Forests harbor 75 percent of the world's biodiversity. Trees intercept rainfall and gently release it in watersheds; they absorb carbon dioxide and replenish the air with oxygen. 

Trees are planted to restore degraded landscapes and provide forage for hungry animals. They protect coastlines and riverbanks. some act as important shade trees and windbreaks; many others are grown as ornamentals.