Eastern Larch
Larix laricina
Found in bogs and swamps. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
65
Strong
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- About 80 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Mid spring
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 2 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
80CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Larix
- Acronicta impressaImpressive Dagger, Printed Dagger
- Amorbia humerosanaWhite-Lined Leafroller Moth
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Aplectoides conditaX
- Argyrotaenia occultanaFall Spruce Needle Moth
- Argyrotaenia velutinanaRed-Banded Leafroller Moth, Jack Pine Tube Moth
- Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper
- Callima argenticinctellaOrange-Headed Epicallima
- Campaea perlataPale Beauty, Fringed Looper
- Caripeta angustiorataBrown Pine Looper Moth
Show all 80
- Caripeta divisataGray Spruce Looper Moth
- Celypha nr.Celypha Moth
- Choristoneura fumiferanaSpruce Budworm Moth
- Choristoneura pinusJack Pine Budworm
- Chytolita morbidalisMorbid Owlet
- Cladara limitariaMottled Gray Carpet, Yellow-Lined Conifer Looper, Yellow-Lined Forest Looper, Black-Angled Wave
- Clepsis persicanaWhite Triangle Tortrix
- Coelodasys unicornisUnicorn Caterpillar Moth
- Cyclophora pendulinariaSweetfern Geometer
- Dasychira vagansVariable Tussock Moth
- Dysstroma citrataDark Marbled Carpet
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
- Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
- Ectropis crepusculariaThe Small Engrailed, Saddleback Looper
- Elaphria versicolorVariegated Midget
- Epirrita autumnataThe Autumnal Moth, November Moth
- Eufidonia notatariaPowder Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Eupithecia palpataSmall Pine Looper, Palpata Pug
- Eurois occultaGreat Grey Dart, Great Brocade
- Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
- Feralia jocosaJocose Sallow, The Joker
- Hesperumia sulphurariaSulphur Moth
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hydriomena divisariaBlack-Dashed Hydriomena, Transverse-Banded Looper
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Ipimorpha pleonectusaEven-Lined Sallow, Blackcheeked Tentmaker
- Iridopsis larvariaBent-Line Gray
- Iridopsis vellivolataLarge Purplish Gray
- Lambdina fiscellariaHemlock Looper, Western Oak Looper
- Lapara bombycoidesNorthern Pine Sphinx
- Lithophane innominataNameless Pinion
- Lobophora nivigerataPowdered Bigwing, Two-Lined Aspen Looper
- Lophocampa caryaeHickory Tussock Moth, Hickory Tiger Moth
- Macaria bisignataRed-Headed Inchworm
- Macaria exauspicataSpeckled Granite
- Macaria signariaPale-Marked Angle, Spruce-Fir Looper, Dusky Peacock
- Malacosoma disstriaForest Tent Caterpillar
- Melanchra assimilisBlack Arches
- Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
- Melanolophia signatariaSignate Melanolphia
- Nematocampa resistariaFilament Bearer, Horned Spanworm Moth
- Nemoria mimosariaWhite-Fringed Emerald
- Nepytia canosariaFalse Hemlock Looper Moth, Evergreen Span Worm
- Nepytia semiclusariaPine Conelet Looper
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Orthosia hibisciSpeckled Green Fruitworm Moth, Speckled Green Quaker
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Panthea acronyctoidesBlack Zigzag, Tufted Spruce Caterpillar
- Panthea furcillaEastern Panthea, Tufted Pine Panthea
- Paralobesia palliolanaSpruce Mlcromoth
- Pero honestariaHonest Pero
- Pero morrisonariaMorrison's Pero
- Probole amicariaFriendly Probole
- Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
- Protoboarmia porcelariaPorcelain Gray, Dashedlined Looper
- Rhyacionia frustranaNantucket Pine Tip Moth
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Sphinx gordiusApple Sphinx
- Spiramater lutraDarling Mamestra, Splashed Arches, Otter Spiramater, Otter Arches
- Syngrapha aliasSpruce Looper, Hooked Silver Y
- Tacparia detersataPale Alder
- Tetracis cachexiataWhite Slant-Line
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Xestia badicollisWhite Pine Cutworm, Northern Variable Dart, White Pine Dart, Northern Pine Dart
- Xestia dilucidaDull Reddish Dart, Reddish Heath Dart
- Xestia elimataSouthern Variable Dart, Southern Pine Dart
- Xestia praeviaEarly Conifer Dart, Praevia Dart
- Zale duplicataPine False Looper, Banded Zale
- Zale helataBrown-Spotted Zale
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Larix
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Loxia curvirostraRed Crossbill
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Pinaceae
- Flower color
- Red
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Single stem
- Foliage color
- Dark green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Mid spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Red” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Dark green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single stem” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 80 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Leaf retention · “Deciduous” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
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Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications