Editing Larch (section)

==Description and distribution==
[[File:Larix decidua0.jpg|thumb|upright|[[European larch]] foliage and cones]]

The tallest species, ''[[Larix occidentalis]]'', can reach {{cvt|50|to|60|m|ft|round=5}}. Larch tree crowns are sparse, with the major branches horizontal; the second and third order branchlets are also ± horizontal in some species (e.g. ''[[Larix gmelinii|L. gmelinii]]'', ''[[Larix kaempferi|L. kaempferi]]''), or characteristically [[pendulous]] in some other species (e.g. ''[[Larix decidua|L. decidua]]'', ''[[Larix griffithii|L. griffithii]]''). Larch shoots are dimorphic, with leaves borne singly on long shoots typically {{convert|10|to|50|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long<ref name="Stace-2010">{{cite book |last=Stace |first=C. A. |author-link=Stace, C. A. |year=2010 |title=New Flora of the British Isles |edition=Third |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, U.K. |isbn=978-0-521-70772-5}}</ref>{{rp|47}} and bearing several [[bud]]s, and in dense clusters of 20–50 needles on short shoots<ref name="Stace-2010"/> only {{cvt|1-2|mm|in|frac=32}} long with only a single bud. The [[leaf|leaves]] (light green) are needle-like, {{convert|2|to|5|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} long, slender (under {{cvt|1|cm|in|frac=4|disp=or}} wide). Larches are among the few deciduous conifers, which are usually evergreen. Other deciduous conifers include the golden larch ''[[Pseudolarix amabilis]]'', the dawn redwood ''[[Metasequoia glyptostroboides]]'', the Chinese swamp cypress ''[[Glyptostrobus pensilis]]'' and the bald cypresses in the genus ''[[Taxodium]]''.

The male ([[pollen]]) cones are greenish-yellow to orange-yellowish and fall soon after pollination. The female [[conifer cone|cones]]) of larches are erect, small, {{cvt|1-9|cm|in|frac=2}} long, green, red, or purple, ripening brown and woody- or leathery-textured 5–8 months after pollination; in about half the species the bract scales are long and visible, and in the others, short and hidden between the seed scales. Those native to northern regions have small cones ({{cvt|1-3|cm|in|frac=2|disp=or}}) with short bracts, with more southerly species tending to have longer cones ({{cvt|3-9|cm|in|frac=4|disp=or}}), often with exserted bracts, with the longest cones and bracts produced by the southernmost species, in the Himalayas. The seeds are winged. The root system is broad and deep and the bark is finely cracked and wrinkled in irregular plaques. The wood is bicoloured, with salmon-pink [[heartwood]] and yellowish-white [[sapwood]].

The [[Chromosome|chromosome number]] is 2n = 24, similar to that of most of the other species of the family [[Pinaceae]].

The genus ''Larix'' is present in all the temperate-cold zones of the [[northern hemisphere]], from [[North America]] to northern [[Siberia]] passing through [[Europe]], mountainous [[China]] and [[Japan]]. The larches are important forest trees of [[Russia]], [[Central Europe]], [[United States]] and [[Canada]]. They require a cool and fairly humid climate and for this reason they are found in the mountains of the temperate zones, while in the northernmost boreal zones they are also found in the plains. Larch trees go further north than all, reaching in North America and Siberia the [[tundra]] and polar ice. The larches are [[pioneer species]] not very demanding towards the [[soil]] and they are very long-lived trees. They live in pure or mixed forests together with other conifers or more rarely with broad-leaved trees.