Posted by ken simmonds on June 12, 2005

Q: I have some green pine cones off of a russian tamerac. What species of tree is this. Can I just put them into some earth to grow or how do I go about trying to grow this type of tree.

A: I'm not familiar with the Russian Tamerac but I'm guessing you're referring to the European Larch. There are European, American, and Asian versions of the larch so the one you probably have is the European Larch (Larix decidua).

In North America another name for the American Larch is Tamarack and I wonder if this is causing a bit of confusion here. The larch (Tamarack) are deciduous evergreens - they lose their needles in the fall and produce rather small cones each year.

The green cones you refer to are still immature and won't have mature seeds in them until fall. At that time, they'll dry, begin to open, and the tiny winged seeds will fall out and flutter to the ground. It is the seeds you need for planting, not the cones themselves. Although larch are often found growing in very wet conditions, they do their best in rather sandy locations. You can probably go online to get some instructions about planting and stratification procedures. Best of luck to you with your trees.

John Wiessinger ( June 13, 2005)