A beautiful tree, American Larch is one of those rare conifers that loses its leaves in winter.  Those soft, blue-green summer needles turn a brilliant orange-yellow in fall.
 
     Also known as Tamarack, Larch grows naturally in moist, sunny areas where winters are cold and summers are cool.  Its cones--the smallest of the Eastern conifers at about a half-inch--are either male or female, growing on different branches on the same tree.   The most impressive are the females, larger and red, hanging on all winter.
 
     Larch is a larval host to several butterfly and moth species, and songbirds use it for nesting.
 
     For more on Larch read our blog here.