Larches

Trees of moor and mountainside

"Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered,..."

The Two Towers IV 4
Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

Tall coniferous trees with spreading horizontal branches most commonly seen in cooler climates, or in highland regions. They were noted as growing in the rocky heather-covered heights of the Northland moors of Númenor, but they were also to be found in Middle-earth. Larches were discovered among the many varieties of trees and shrubs found in Ithilien by Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee. These trees are deciduous, dropping their needle-like leaves in winter and regrowing them the following year, and because Frodo and Sam travelled through Ithilien in Spring, they saw the first green shoots of the larches' new leaves beginning to appear.

Notes

At least according to Roman tradition, Larignum was an ancient town in the Alps walled by a wooden palisade and guarded by a wooden tower. It was said that Julius Caesar attempted to begin his conquest of the town by burning down its guard-tower, but its wooden structure survived his soldiers' attempts to set it alight. Nonetheless, Caesar ultimately overcame the defenders and took Laringum, but the apparently fire-proof wood of the town's defences was remembered. According to this story, at least, the town's name gave rise to the word larigna for the wood and the tree from which it came, a word that evolved to larix and ultimately from Latin into English as 'larch'.

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Updated 2 January 2025
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Larches

Trees of moor and mountainside

Notes

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