Larch

Also 6 larche, larshe. β. 8 larich, larinch. [Introduced by Turner (see quot. 1548 in 3), ad. G. lärche:—MHG. lerche, larche:—OHG. *lerihha, *larihha, an early adoption (prior to the assibilation of c in Latin) of L. laricem, larix (whence late Gr. λάριξ): corresponding phonetically to OCeltic *darik- (Irish dair, genitive darach, Welsh dar) oak. Other Eng. writers in the 16th c. adopted the word in the L. form (see LARIX), sometimes corrupted into larinx; hence app. some of the dialectal forms given above. Cf. further Du. lariks, and the unexplained forms G. lorche, Du. lorke(boom); also It. larice, Sp. lárice, Pg. larico, F. (Cotgr.) larege, lareze, med.L. laresus.]

  1.  A well-known coniferous tree; Abies Larix or Larix europæa, a native of the Alps, which is largely cultivated in this country. Its timber is tough and durable. It yields Venetian turpentine, and the bark is used in tanning. b. Any tree of the genus Larix, e.g., the American Larch, L. americana.

1548, etc.  [see larch tree in 3].

1576.  Newton, Lemnie’s Complex., I. 72. Y^e best is that, which issueth out of y^e Larch, the Pyne, or the Firre tree.

1794.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, iii. The scene of barrenness was here and there interrupted by the spreading branches of the larch and cedar.

1827–35.  Willis, May, 15. The larch stands green and beautiful Amid the sombre firs.

1832.  Planting, 33 (L. U. K.). Pinus pendula, black larch. Ibid., microcarpa, red larch. Ibid., larix, common larch.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., xci. When rosy plumelets tuft the larch.

1866.  Treas. Bot., s.v. Larix, The American Larch, Abies or Larix pendula, is the tree known to the Canadians as the Tamarack.

  2.  The wood of this tree.

1867.  W. W. Smyth, Coal, 141. The props are usually of larch, or, in low seams, of oak.

  3.  attrib., as larch-plank, -plant, -tree, -turpentine; larch-bark, the bark of the larch-tree; the laricis cortex of the British Pharmacopœia; larch red, a substance obtained by boiling extract of larch-bark with dilute sulphuric acid (Cassell); larch-scale, a scale-like insect that infests larch trees; larch-wood, (a) the wood of the larch tree; (b) a wood consisting of larch trees.

1827.  Steuart, Planter’s G. (1828), 489. The present Mr. White, had often drawn more than £400 a year for his *Larch-bark only.

1847.  Smeaton, Builder’s Man., 43. Tiberius caused the Naumachiarian bridge … to be rebuilt of *larch planks.

1871.  Palgrave, Lyr. Poems, 30. The young *larch-plant upon Pelion’s side.

1832.  Planting, 72 (L. U. K.). Coccus lariceo [sic], *larch scale.

1548.  Turner, Names of Herbes, 46. Larix or larex groweth on the highest toppes of the Alpes … frenche men cal it Dularge. It maye be called in englishe a *Larche tree.

1578.  [see LARIX].

1601.  Holland, Pliny, II. 182. From the Larch tree there issueth a subtill and thin liquor.

1706.  Phillips (ed. Kersey), Larix, the Larinch-tree, or Larch-Tree.

1712.  trans. Pomet’s Hist. Drugs, I. 66. Cedrus Magna … is a Species of the Larch Tree.

1728.  Kersey, Larix, the Larich-tree, or Larch-tree.

1855.  Longf., Hiaw., VII. 49. Give me … of your fibrous roots, O Larch-Tree!

1616.  Bullokar, *Larch Turpentine, a kind of Turpentine or rosen growing vpon the Larch tree in Italie, vsed often in oyntments and emplaisters.

1780.  Coxe, Russ. Disc., 46. Another ship built of *larch-wood.

1856.  Miss Mulock, J. Halifax, xxv. It was lovely to see the morning sun climbing over One-Tree Hill, catching the larchwood [etc.].