=Larix laricìná= (Du Roi) Koch. Tamarack. Plate No. 5. Tall spire-like trees, usually 2-3 dm. in diameter, rarely as large as 5 dm. in diameter; bark gray or reddish-brown, scaly; twigs slender, smooth, light brown, becoming a dark gray brown; leaves scattered along the shoots of the season, in fascicles on the older branches, usually 20-50 in a bundle; filiform, 1-2.5 cm. long, obtuse at apex, triangular in cross-section, all falling off late in autumn; staminate flowers borne on the short leafless branches, the pistillate appear with the leaves on the branches of the previous season; cones borne on short, stout branchlets, normally erect or inclined to be so, 10-20 mm. long, purplish brown while growing, turning to a light brown at maturity, persisting on the tree for about a year; wood hard, heavy, light brown, variable in strength. =Distribution.=--Labrador, Newfoundland south to southern New York, West Virginia, northern Ohio and Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and northward. In Indiana it is confined to the northern part of the State, and has not been reported south of the northern part of Cass County. The most southern station in the eastern part of the State is about Lake Everett in the northwest part of Allen County. It is found on low borders of lakes, in swamps and in bogs. In all of its stations in Indiana it is found growing near the water level in great depths of organic matter more or less decomposed or in beds of peat, which contain little or practically no soil. Where it is found, it usually forms a pure stand. =Remarks.=--Formerly the tamarack was a common tree in its area. Recently many of the tamarack swamps have been drained. This with heavy cutting has reduced the supply of tamarack in Indiana to an insignificant amount. The tamarack is popularly classed as white and yellow--the yellow being considered the better of the two. In our area it is used principally for poles and posts. There is a diversity of opinion as to the durability of tamarack in contact with the soil. The most authentic information places the life of fence posts at about ten years. [Illustration: Plate 5. LARIX LARICINA (Du Roi) Koch. Tamarack. (×1.)] =3. TSÙGA.= The Hemlocks.