Larches

The Larch is essentially a mountain tree. It abounds on the Alps up to an altitude of 5,000 feet, and occurs on the Apennines and Carpathians, but is unknown in a wild state on the Pyrenees, or in the Spanish or Scandinavian peninsulas. It forms large woods in Russia, but is represented in Northern Asia by a variety (Larix sibirica), with smooth, gray bark, sometimes considered a distinct species.