Click on the images help you identify a tamarack.
Form
Straight, upright trunk extending to top of tree, with spreading or ascending branches. Height 40 to 70 feet, with diameters of 14 to 24 inches. Large trees are rare because most old specimens were killed years ago by the larch sawfly.
Bark
Rough, with thin, reddish-brown scales. Twigs are light brown and covered with numerous tiny spurs or short branches.
Leaf
Needlelike, flat, soft and slender, about 1 inch long. Needles are borne in clusters on spurlike branches and distributed singly on terminal shoots. Bright green in spring, turning dull yellow in September or October just before falling. Tamarack is the only conifer in Minnesota that sheds all its leaves each fall.
Fruit (seed)
Young cones are red or greenish while mature cones light brown, measuring ¾ inch long. They are nearly spherical and open in the fall to release small, winged seeds. Cones often remain on trees several years.
Range
Found primarily in swamps in the coniferous forest region of northern Minnesota, occasionally found in drier localities where it grows larger. Also found southward scattered in cold swamps throughout the hardwood region as far south as the Twin Cities. Tamaracks are shade intolerant.
Wood uses
Light yellowish brown, heavy, hard and very durable in contact with soil. Used for posts, poles, ties, cribbing, fuel, kraft paper and locally for lumber.