Tree of the day: Pseudolarix amabilis, Golden larch, Harris Garden
Pseudolarix amabilis is a species of deciduous needleleaf coniferous plants (in the Pinaceae or Pine family), native to eastern China.
Pseudolarix amabilis is a species of deciduous needleleaf coniferous plants (in the Pinaceae or Pine family), native to eastern China. The tree grows to 40 metres and forms a broad crown. Its bark is grey, rough and divided into irregular flakes by vertical and horizontal fissures. Its leaves are bright green and very narrow, almost needles, arranged in bunches. They turn golden-yellow in autumn before falling, making the tree a striking sight.
This characteristic is the reason for its genus name Pseudolarix, which means "false larch". Pseudolarix and Larix are in the same family, but not closely related. (Larix decidua, the European larch, is also present in Whiteknights Park.) Pseudolarix amabilis is planted for this ornamental characteristic, and also used for wood. Its natural habitat is steep slopes among a mixture of species, up to 1500 metres altitude.
about this species
See close-up photos of this species
This photo is one of 9624 photos of 872 trees in 329 species
This website is a virtual arboretum, created for interest, education and beauty. It exhibits some of the thousands of trees, of both native and exotic species, that grow in Whiteknights Park, the main campus of the University of Reading. Many of them have been planted since the university arrived in 1947, but some have been here since the 19th century or earlier, when Whiteknights was the gardens and parkland of large houses. More than a hundred of the trees are listed in The Tree Register, nine as British Isles champions (the largest or tallest of their species).
Please send any comments about this website to whiteknights-trees@reading.ac.uk.
The previous version of this website is here.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank: Rupert Taylor, Owen Johnson, Alastair Culham, Jonathan Mitchley, Marcus Wheeler, Benoît Vannière, Miguel Teixeira and Claire Hawkins for tree identifications; Brian Hunt and Trevor Smith for testing routes and contributing text; Dylan Parkes, Martin Watts, Emilija Rudzinskaite, Brian and Trevor for collaboration on the centenary project; Dan Hodson for useful code examples; Studio Lift for website style; Brian, Trevor and Nathanaël van Twillert for comments and suggestions on website user experience; Benoît, Marcus, Steve George, Brian, Trevor, the Friends of the University of Reading, and other friends for their encouragement during the development of the website; the University and its grounds staff for maintaining Whiteknights Park.