Tree of Gold: The Larch
- Joshua Venturo
- Sep 29
- 2 min read
Dense forest thins. Views of jagged peaks become unobstructed. A glassy lake appears over a rise, reflecting each patch of snow that clings to the cliffs above. A breeze ruffles the water’s surface, floating over the irregular boulders by the lake’s edge and gently moving the smallest twigs on the nearby stunted pines. The ridge above sweeps up and up, ending in pinnacles too steep for snow. Behind the ridgeline, the sky is light gray but seems to have no thought of storming.
This is the Cascade Range of Washington state, early fall. We are near tree line, exploring near the lake and enjoying the scenery. Before long, our wandering course takes us up a slope of boulders. A feathery, golden frond catches our eyes. We scramble closer to investigate. The twig joins a branch, which joins another, and another, and soon the whole tree is visible. Each branch is clad in small, yellow needles, each seeming to glow against the backdrop of gray. The tree is a larch. And we are just in time to see its golden attire before the mountains are draped in snow. For winter is coming.
The larch is an interesting tree. It is a deciduous conifer, which means that its needle-like leaves turn yellow or orange before falling off every winter. Most conifers are evergreen, keeping green needles through the winter. The kind of larch we saw was a subalpine larch. Subalpine larches grow at high elevations where there is plenty of snow, and they are more spreading than other kinds of larch.
In the spring, larch trees put out new, vibrant green leaves. They are easy to spot against the dark green of other conifers.
Larches live for a very long time. The oldest larch is a tree Montana locals call “Gus.” Gus has lived to 1,000 years old. The tree is 163 feet high with a 10-foot-tall dead top!
Larches grow in open areas where wildfires are common.
The larch tree sheds its old dead leaves every winter, only to grow fresh, new ones in the spring. This reminds me of the Bible verse Colossians 3:9b-10: “You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
If you are a Christian, God tells you to push away your old, sinful self and strive to live a pure, Christian life. Ask God each day for help to live in a way that would please Him.
Photo by Jenny Venturo
Information from: https://parks.wa.gov/about/news-center/field-guide-blog/tree-id- larchtree#:~:text=Unlike%20their%20evergreen%20cousins%2C%20larches,fades%20and%20they%20go%20bare
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission. All rights reserved.
