Sikkim Larch

Taxobox
name = Sikkim Larch
status = LR/lc | status_system = IUCN2.3

---

image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Pinophyta
classis = Pinopsida
ordo = Pinales
familia = Pinaceae
genus = "Larix"
species = "L. griffithii"
binomial = "Larix griffithii"
binomial_authority = Hook.f.

Sikkim Larch ("Larix griffithii") is a species of larch, native to the eastern Himalaya in eastern Nepal, Sikkim, western Bhutan and southwestern China (Xizang), growing at 3000-4100 m altitude.

It is a medium-sized deciduous coniferous tree reaching 20-25 m tall, with a trunk up to 0.8 m diameter. The crown is slender conic; the main branches are level to upswept, the side branchlets pendulous from them. 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, 2-4 cm long; they turn bright yellow to orange before they fall in the autumn, leaving the pale yellow-brown shoots bare until the next spring.

The cones are erect, ovoid-conic, 4-7.5 cm long, with 50-100 seed scales, each seed scale with a long exserted and reflexed basal bract; they are dark purple when immature, turning dark brown and opening to release the seeds when mature, 5-7 months after pollination. The old cones commonly remain on the tree for many years, turning dull grey-black.

It is sometimes called the Himalayan Larch, not to be confused with "Larix himalaica", which is generally known as the Langtang Larch. Synonyms include "Abies griffithiana" J. D. Hooker ex Lindley & Gordon and "Larix griffithiana" hort. ex Carrière. Trees to the northeast of the range in eastern Bhutan and Xizang have recently been separated as "Larix kongboensis" (Mill 1999); they differ in smaller cones 3-5 cm long. This taxon has been accepted by the "Flora of China" but not widely elsewhere.

References and external links

*
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=210000965 Flora of China: "Larix griffithii"]
*cite journal | quotes=no|first=Robert|last=Mill|year=1999|title=A New Species of "Larix" (Pinaceae) from Southeast Tibet and Other Nomenclatural Notes on Chinese "Larix"|journal=Novon|volume=9|issue=1|pages=79–82|url=http://www.fna.org/china/novon/mill2-9-1.html|doi=10.2307/3392124