Japanese larch
Larix kaempferi
Larix kaempferi, the Japanese larch or karamatsu (唐松 or 落葉松) in Japanese, is a species of larch native to Japan, in the mountains of Chūbu and Kantō regions in central Honshū.
It is a medium-sized to large deciduous coniferous tree reaching 20–40 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The crown is broad conic; both the main branches and the side branches are level, the side branches only rarely drooping. The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 10–50 cm long) and bearing several buds, and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. The leaves are needle-like, light glaucous green, 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long; they turn bright yellow to orange before they fall in the autumn, leaving the pinkish-brown shoots bare until the next spring.
From the article Larix kaempferi on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
At the table
Japanese larch is an important tree in forestry plantations, being grown throughout central and northern Japan (north to Hokkaidō), and also widely in northern Europe, particularly Ireland and Britain. The wood is tough and durable, and is used for general construction work. Small larch poles are commonly used for fencing.
Wikipedia: “Uses”
How it is grown
Larix kaempferi is used for ornamental purposes in parks and gardens. It is also widely used as material for bonsai. The dwarf cultivars 'Blue Dwarf', growing to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall and broad, and 'Nana', growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and broad, have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Wikipedia: “Cultivation”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Larix kaempferi in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 143786.