A conifer keeps its needles even when the cold winter is approaching. But not the larch! She steps out of line for some reason, turning her needles yellow in the fall and letting them fall to the ground afterwards. In the spring she puts on a fresh, green needle dress.

The larch is the only native conifer that loses its needles in winter

The peculiarity of larch needles

Just like the leaves of deciduous trees, the needles of conifers also have microscopic stomata through which material exchange with the surrounding air is possible. Part of their moisture also evaporates through these stomata.

This evaporation makes sense in summer, but in winter it is difficult or impossible to compensate for the loss of moisture, especially in frosty weather. For this reason, the stomata of most types of needles are sunken and protected by a layer of wax. The soft needles of the corpse are an exception.

The annual needle change

So that the larch does not die of thirst in winter, like a deciduous tree, it has to shed its green dress in good time before the cold snaps and grow a new one when the time comes.

  • in autumn the needles first turn yellow
  • more and more trickle to the ground, the needle dress thins out
  • after all, the larch stands there without any needles
  • Leaf bubbles remain
  • they give the branches a rough appearance

This necessary survival measure helps the larch to become winter hardy down to - 40 °C.

When will the larch sprout again?

In the following year between March and May, when the weather warms up again, the short shoots appear with tufts arranged like a rosette. Each individual tuft consists of about 20 to 40 needles. Occasionally, the needles are also formed on long shoots. They are initially light green and darken by summer. Their length reaches 10-30 mm. The needle shape is narrow, flattened and very flexible.

tips

A tasty tea can be made from fresh larch needles.

Japanese larch and bonsai

The European larch is a native tree species, and there is also the Japanese larch, which feels just as at home in this country as in its Asian homeland. This larch species also loses its umbilicus in autumn. Even larches, which are cultivated as bonsai by severe pruning measures, are not protected from needle loss. However, this naked look is a temporary condition and nothing to worry about.

Category:

Trees