#subalpine larch

Here are a few pictures taken during the transplanting of a uncommon hybrid (sub)alpine larch (Larix lyalii) with a western larch (Larix occidentalis).  It was moved for the expansion of a building and to preserve the specimen for the campus and arboretum.  Typically the two species do not grow at the same elevation with the exception of Carlton Ridge in the Bitteroot Mountains and the Cabinet Range where they naturally hybridize.  This tree had the dense pubescence and generally smaller cones of the Larix lyallii.  The cross sections of the needles were triangular like the Larix occidentalis.