The Letter The Performance  








Distribution in the Binn Valley


A scenario for
Climate change (global warming)


LARCH
Larix decidua L.

"One is surprised ... to see, how the larch presents the same warm hue inside, which the painters so much savour in the violin. Like the flowers of the alps it drinks the living light, from which it draws the beautiful red colour one could mistake for young blood. It is the hope and the joy of the mountains. It is permanently occupied with conserving the forest ... It serves a thousand causes."
Jules Michelet

Larches can become up to 800 years old. Therefore it comes as no surprise that old larches often were considered holy trees, like for instance the larch of Nauders, which was felled as late as 1855.

Together with the stone pine, the larches form the highest forest layer. As pioneer trees they also grow on stony ground. The needles, which are thrown off each year, are easily decomposed and do therefore not contribute to hyperacidity of the earth. This promotes alpine farming, and one will often find alpine meadows interspersed with larches.



Picture:
Jaume Saint-Hilaire, Jean Henri (1828-1833): La flore et la pomone françaises : histoire et figure en couleur, des fleurs et des fruits de France ou naturalisés sur le sol français. 6 v., 544 leaves of plates : ill. (col. printed) ; 29 cm. © Paris : Chez l'auteur, rue Furstemberg. [Ausschnitt]. © 1995-2003 Missouri Botanical Garden, Rare Books http://ridgwaydb.mobot.org/mobot/rarebooks/

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