Larix laricina (Tamarack)

Scientific Name
Larix laricina

Trade Name
Tamarack

Family Name
Pinaceae

Synonyms
Larix americana

Common Names
Alaska larch, American larch, East canadian larch, Eastern Canadian larch, Eastern larch, Hackmatack, Larch, Tamarack

Regions of Distribution
North America

Countries of Distribution  [VIEW MAP]
Canada, United States

Common Uses
Boat building (general), Boat building: planking, Boxes and crates, Building construction, Casks, Construction, Flooring, Foundation posts, Fuelwood, Furniture, Heavy construction, Joinery (external): ground contact, Light construction, Mine timbers, Novelties, Packing cases, Pallets, Piling, Poles, Posts, Pulp/Paper products, Pulpwood, Railroad ties, Rough construction, Stakes, Utility poles, Vats, Wharf construction

Environmental Profile

Distribution Overview
Tamarack has one of the widest ranges of all North American conifers. Its main range extends from Newfoundland and Labrador west along the northern limit of trees, and across the Continental Divide in northern Yukon Territory; then south in the Mackenzie River drainage to northeastern British Columbia and central Alberta; and east to southern Manitoba, southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, extreme northeastern Illinois, northern Indiana, northern Ohio, northern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, northern Connecticut, and Maine. It also grows locally in the mountains of northern West Virginia and adjacent western Maryland. A major disjunct area of tamarack is found in interior Alaska, in the Yukon and Kuskokwim River basins between the Brooks Range on the north and the Alaska Range on the south; three minor areas are near the Alaska-Yukon border. Prefers wet, peaty soils of bogs and swamps, but is also found in drier upland loamy soils.

Heartwood Color

Fast grown Tamarack stock may have a reddish brown color.

Sapwood Color

Often less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) wide

Grain

Growth-Rings are conspicuous and there is an abrupt transition from earlywood to latewood.

Texture

Natural Durability

Should be protected with preservatives if it is to be used under high decay hazard conditions.

Odor

Silica Content

Kiln Schedules

Drying Defects

Ease of Drying

Kiln Drying Rate

Tree Identification

Tree Size

A deciduous tree reported to have a straight tapering trunk

Product Sources
Current production of timber from Tamarack is small.

Comments
Tamarack or Eastern larch is occasionally confused with Western larch but the two can be separated by the color of the heartwood, which is generally yellowish brown in tamarack and russet- or reddish brown in western larch

Blunting Effect

Boring

Planing

Resistance to Impregnation

The timber is difficult to treat with preservatives.

Resistance to Splitting

Response to Hand Tools

Turning

Veneering Qualities

Steam Bending

Painting

Staining

Strength Properties

Numerical Data

References
Boone, R.S., C.J. Kozlik, P.J. Bois, E.M. Wengert. 1988. Dry Kiln Schedules for Commercial Hardwoods – Temperate and Tropical. USDA, Forest Service, General Technical Report FPL-GTR-57, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.

Brown, H.P. and Panshin, A.J.,1940,Commercial Timbers of the United States Their structure, identification,,properties and uses,McGraw-Hill, London

Brown, W.H.,1978,Timbers of the World: – No.7 North America,TRADA

Canadian Forestry Service. 1981. Canadian Woods – Their Properties and Uses. Third Edition. E.J. Mullins and T.S. McKnight, Editors. Published by University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada.

Clifford, N.,1957,Timber Identification for the Builder and Architect,Leonard Hill (Books) LTD. London

Dallimore, W. and Jackson, A. Bruce,1966,A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae Fourth Ed. Revised by S.G.,Harrison,Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd. London

Forest Products Research Laboratory U.K.,1957,A Handbook of Softwoods,Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Forest Products Research,HMSO

Forest Products Research Laboratory, U.K.,1945,A Handbook of Empire Timbers,Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Forest Products Research

Howard, A.L.,1948,A Manual of Timbers of the World.,Macmillan & Co. Ltd. London 3rd ed.

I.U.F.R.O.,1973,Veneer Species of the World,Assembled at F.P.L. Madison on behalf of I.U.F.R.O. Working Party on,Slicing and Veneer Cutting

Johnstone, W.F. and Carpenter, E.M.,1985,American Woods – Tamarack,USDA, Forest Service American Woods FS-268

Little, E.L. 1980. The Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Trees – Western Region. Published by Arthur A. Knopf, New York.

Markwardt, L.J., Wilson, T.R.C.,1935,Strength and related properties of woods grown in the United States,U.S.A. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin,No.479

Mullins, E.J. and McKnight, T.S.,1981,Canadian Woods Their Properties and Uses,University of Toronto Press 3rd Edition

Panshin, A.J. and C. deZeeuw. Textbook of Wood Technology. McGraw-Hill Series in Forest Resources. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.

Patterson, D.,1988,Commercial Timbers of the World, 5th Edition,Gower Technical Press

Record, S.J., Hess, R.W.,1943,Timbers of the New World,Yale University Press

Takahashi, A.,1975,Compilation of data on the Mechanical Properties of Foreign Woods (Part 2,Central and South America,Shimane University, Japan, Research Report on Foreign Wood No.4

Titmuss, F.H.,1965,Commercial Timbers of the World,Technical Press Ltd., London, 3rd edition

U.S.D.A. Forest Service,1974,Wood Handbook,U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Handbook,72

USDA. 1987. Wood Handbook : Wood as an Engineering Material. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 72. Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.

USDA. 1988. Dry Kiln Operators Manual, Preliminary Copy. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.