Japanese larch arrives from the mountain slopes of central Japan carrying a rare quality among conifers: the willingness to let go. Its soft, bright green needles emerge in spring in feathery clusters, spending summer building the broad, pyramidal crown that can eventually reach 90 feet. Then autumn strips it of the pretense of evergreen permanence, turning the foliage warm yellow before dropping it entirely. The gray, peeling bark and reddish-brown shoots remain as its winter character, and the small cones pass through violet and orange-purple before fading to gray-brown.

This tree demands the right situation: full sun, rich acidic soil with steady moisture, and shelter from wind. Cool summers and cold winters suit it best, which is why it rarely thrives in the humid South. Planted from seed, it takes two or three years to find its footing, then grows rapidly. It is considered the most ornamental of the larches, used in Japanese and European forestry for its longevity, and valued in cultivation as a specimen that changes more dramatically through the seasons than almost any other large tree.