The crown of a larch is always green, just like we know it from conifers. After many years of existence, it is finally showing us its fruits. The brown color is a great contrast, but the shape also makes them some of the prettiest cones in the forest.

Mature cones are brown

Cones, the fruits of conifers

The larch is a conifer that belongs to the pine family. Fruits, as we know them from various fruit trees, are not to be expected from this tree species. Instead, it adorns itself with hard, woody cones. Although these are not an enrichment for our dishes, they are wonderful decoration and handicraft material.

Manhood is a long time coming

Vigor is a botanical term for the ability of trees to produce fruit. The onset of manhood is species-specific and is also influenced by ecological factors. The maturity of a larch begins:.

  • in free standing: at the age of 15-20 years
  • in stock: aged 30-40 years

When a young larch is planted in your own garden, a lot of patience is required before the first cones can be admired.

Only fattening years yield a lot of fruit

The larch does not hang cones on its branches every year. The reason is that fruit production is an exhausting business that the tree can only perform at intervals of many years. During this time, its growth stagnates.

The years when a tree produces abundant fruit are called mast years, but are also known as seed years. With larch, there is a time interval of 3-6 years between two mast years, depending on the altitude.

This is what larch cones look like

The larch flowers in spring, sometime between March and May. But only in the following year do the seeds mature and fly out. The cones, however, remain attached to the tree. They fade over time and fall off the tree after about 10 years. They have the following characteristics:

  • when ripe they stand upright
  • are light brown and ovoid
  • Length is 2.5 to 4 cm
  • Width is 1.5 to 2 cm
  • Seed scales are rounded and lie loosely
  • they have fine striped patterns and brown hairs

tips

While the scales of the European larch are not or only slightly curved outwards, the cones of the so-called Japanese larch have seed scales that are strongly curved outwards.

Category:

Trees