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Scientific Name
Larix gmelinii

Trade Name
Asian larch

 

Dahurian Larch, also known as Asian larch, is a species of larch native to eastern Siberia, and adjacent northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China (Heilongjiang) and North Korea. It forms enormous forests in the eastern Siberian taiga, growing at 50-1,200 meters in altitude on both boggy and well-drained soils, including on the shallow soils above permafrost.


It is unique in two respects, being the northernmost tree in the world, reaching 72° 30' N at Ary-Mas (102° 27' E) in the Khatanga River valley on the Taymyr Peninsula, and also the most cold-hardy tree in the world, tolerating temperatures below -70 °C in the Oymyakon–Verkhoyansk region of Yakutia. One tree in Yakutia is known to have been 919 years old.

It is a medium-sized deciduous coniferous tree reaching 10-30 m tall, rarely 40 m, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter.

The wood:
  • has a medium to fine texture, with a silvery cast and an oily feel
  • lacks a distinctive odor or taste
  • has sapwood which is white and narrow (less than 1" wide), and sharply differentiated from the heartwood
  • has resinous heartwood which is yellow to russet brown (sometimes described as pale reddish-brown to brick-red)
  • is intermediate in strength, stiffness, and hardness, while moderately high in shock resistance
  • has a specific gravity of .49 green to .53 dry
  • generally works well
  • has a noticeable blunting effect on tool
  • has a tendency to split when nailed
  • is low in paint retention.

The wood of larch looks much like the wood of pine, especially in its dry condition.The lines of the annual ring are very sharp and are clearly seen by the difference in colour between the light early wood and dark late wood.

Compared to Norway spruce, larch is seen as rather difficult to work with because of:

  • bad stem form
  • spiral grain
  • higher density
  • larger amount of latewood
  • harder latewood
  • dry knots
  • thicker bark.

Larch can have a tendency to split in nailing. Pre-boring is therefore recommended. Iron nails and screws corrode only weakly in the heartwood of larch, because of little acid in the heartwood.

Larch is easily glued, except when a high content of resin is present. It has similar properties to Scots pine, which means that wood with large contents of resins can cause some problems. It is therefore recommended to pre-treat the wood with a resin-dissolving product, especially if it is exposed to high temperatures.

Larch wood is used when high strength, hardness and durability needed, like in building of mines, bridges, and heavy constructions. Larch can without serious problems be worked on with all manual and mechanical tools. When dry, the wood is relatively easy to work, though growth stresses and compression wood can cause some problems.

Problems can occur in the sawing process because of the high amount of resin,especially in fresh wood.The problem can be solved by lubricating the saw blade with water or light oil, or by sawing the wood in frozen condition.

Density = 520-640 kg/m3
Radial shrinkage = 2.3% - 3.3%
Tangential shrinkage = 4-6%

Heartwood in European larch is almost totally resistant to pressure impregnation. The sapwood is moderately resistant or satisfactory.

 

















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