A conifer keeps its needles, even when the cold winter approaches. But not the larch! For some reason it gets out of line, turns its needles yellow in the fall and then lets them fall to the ground. In spring she gets a fresh, green pin dress.
Why does the larch shed its needles?
The larch is a special type of conifer that turns its needles yellow in autumn and sheds them to prevent evaporation and moisture loss in winter. In the spring between March and May it sprouts fresh, green needles again.
The peculiarity of larch needles
Just like leaves of deciduous trees, needles of conifers also have microscopically small stomata through which exchange of substances with the surrounding air is possible. Some of their moisture also evaporates through these stomata.
This evaporation makes sense in summer, but in winter the loss of moisture can be difficult or impossible to compensate, especially in frosty weather. That's why the stomata of most types of needles are recessed and protected by a layer of wax. The soft needles on the corpse are an exception.
The annual needle change
So that the larch does not die of thirst in winter, like a deciduous tree, it has to get rid of its green dress in good time before the onset of cold weather and put on a new one when the time comes.
- In autumn the needles initially turn yellow
- more and more trickle down to the ground, the needle dress thins out
- finally the larch stands there without needles
- Leaf bubbles stop
- they give the branches a rough look
This necessary survival measure helps the larch to be winter hardy down to -40 °C.
When will the larch sprout again?
The following year between March and May, when the weather gets warmer again, the short shoots appear with rosette-like clusters. Each individual tuft consists of around 20 to 40 needles. Occasionally the needles are also formed on long shoots. They are initially light green and darken by summer. Their length reaches 10 to 30 mm. The needle shape is narrow, flattened and very flexible.
Tip
A tasty tea can be brewed from fresh larch needles.
Japanese larch and bonsai
The European larch is a native tree species, and there is also the Japanese larch, which feels just as at home here as it does in its Asian homeland. This type of larch also loses its navels in autumn. Even larches that are cultivated as bonsai through heavy pruning are not protected from needle loss. But this naked appearance is a temporary condition and nothing to worry about.
