Seen in Cambo Gardens Fife Scotland this month...a very young conifer with larch type needles. The head garden isn't sure..."it is very unusual I think it is the Tibetan Larch Larix potaninii but I would not swear to it" Please can someone give positive id. Thank you.
Either Larix griffithii or Larix kongboensis. The latter tends to have smaller cones, but with some overlap; it is only fairly recently described, and how to distinguish it from L. griffithii isn't fully clear yet. Some cone pics here: Arboretum de Villardebelle (scroll to end of page). L. potaninii can be excluded as it has erect (not reflexed) bracts.
Thank you very much Michael. I wasn't at all happy with the head gardeners reply of Larix potaninii which is why I asked the experts here. Very sad that an unusual very young, newly planted Larix....only about 4ft tall, has not been labelled and the head gardener is already giving it the wrong name. Looking at your set of pics I would lean towards. L.kongboensis..somehow looks more butch than L. griffithii. Would maybe be good to see fresh cones on the tree as well in your pic library, rather than dried older cones.
Worth trying to find out where they got it from! Larix kongboensis is only recently introduced and is still rare in cultivation - but if the tree is young, perfectly possible (FWIW, L. griffithii isn't easy to get hold of, either!).
I tried that. Cambo is a partner garden with RHS. Glendoick and the well known plant collecting Cox family are just a few miles away. So maybe Lady Catherine Erskin was given it as a gift.???? I knew for sure that it wasn't a Larch we had seen before. I will try again with Head Gardener Elliot!
Means it is likely wild collected, but still could be either L. k., or L. g.; Keith Rushforth has collected both and I think the Coxes may often be on the same trips.
