Tamarack branches with cones and flowers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

© Bob Gibbons/Science Photo Library

Tamarack branches with cones and flowers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Larix laricina, a species of larch commonly called the tamarack, is found mostly in the boreal forests of Canada, which extends from here in Newfoundland off the east coast of the North American mainland, all the way across the continent to the northern part of Yukon Territory in the west. But it does show up in some of the northern states of the US as well. The tree is incredibly tolerant of cold temperatures and was so valued by the Algonquin people – indigenous inhabitants of North America – that the name ‘tamarack’ comes from their language, roughly translated as the ‘wood used for snowshoes’.