GOLDEN LARCH

(Pseudolarix amabilis), coniferous tree of the family Pinaceae, native to China. A golden larch resembles a tree of the true larch genus (Larix) but has small cones that fall apart when mature and club-shaped, short branchlets, or shoots, that are longer than those of Larix species. It has reddish-brown, fissured bark and may grow to 30 to 40 metres (about 100 to 130 feet) tall and 1.5 to 2.4 m (5 to 8 ft) in diameter. The needlelike leaves are bright green in summer but turn golden in autumn before they fall. They are grouped in spirals on the long shoots and arranged in star-shaped clusters on the spurlike shoots.