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by Stephen Long Autumn 1994

Tamarack

In the fall of the year, in almost any rural locale in the northeast, you are likely to hear an apocryphal tale about the unschooled recent arrival from down-country and his tamaracks.

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by Stephen Long

© 1994 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.

Discussion *

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Oct 29, 2019

Elise,
I enjoyed your article on tamaracks and learned some new things. I always enjoy learning new things. I have six tamaracks growing in my yard that I planted ten years ago. I also enjoy watching the needles turn yellow in the fall. It is a pretty cool tree. One thing I noticed is that as the needles begin to turn yellow, they do so from the trunk outwards towards the the branch ‘tis. I wonder what the physiological explanation for this might be? I should have paid better attention in my plant physiology class at the University of Maine, way back in the 70’s! If you have an idea on this question I would love to hear from you. Thank you for your great article!

John Kittredge
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Nov 28, 2016

Another eye catching attraction of tamaracks is the brilliant red female cones, when they first “blossom” in Spring. They look like little compressed roses, in ranks along a branch. Unfortunately that display is on upper branches of mature trees, so one needs to search saplings to enjoy that visual treat.

Garry Plunkett
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Nov 14, 2016

Another wonderful thing about this tree is that it is pollution sensitive, so when you see those beauties your are also seeing a fairly healthy environment.

Lynn Murphy
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Nov 14, 2016

I can see a stand of tamaracks tucked into the dark green firs on a neighboring hillside in Corinth, VT. They are like a glowing yellow beacon and make me smile.

J. Conner
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Nov 14, 2016

Wonderful article.

BK

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