Larches (Larix)

• Needles are deciduous (fall from the tree in winter); borne on woody pegs in clusters of 20-40.
  
  
  
• Small, woody cones (1-2" long).
  
  
  
• Twigs have conspicuous pegs where needles occur.

Larches are different from most conifers because they're deciduous--they lose their needles each fall. In addition, their needles are arranged differently from those of most conifers; on current-year twigs they're borne singly, but on older twigs they arise in dense clusters from stout, woody pegs that resemble wooden barrels. Only 10 species of larch occur in the world, mostly in cold parts of the northern hemisphere. Only western larch and subalpine larch grow in the Pacific Northwest. Larches are commonly called tamaracks, especially by people whose roots are in eastern North America.

For more information on the larch native to the Pacific Northwest, go to the species page or see p. 26 of "Trees to Know in Oregon".