マツ科カラマツ属の落葉高木で、学名は Larix kaempferi。英名は Japanese larch。
The genus Larix belongs to Pinaceae (the Pine family), and about 10 species are distrubuted worldwidely. The Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) is native southward from Miyagi prefecture to Chubu district of Honshu in Japan. This tree grows in mountains 1000-2000 m elevation and can reach about 30 m in height. It has cold tolerance and fast growing, so it has been forested in Hokkaido and Tohoku district of Honshu. The leaves are linear and turn yellow, defoliate in winter. The Japanese name "Kara-matsu" (Tang pine - literally translated) is derived that the leaf formation resembles the pine's depicted Tang dynasty Chinese painting. The 10th and 11th photos are a blue-green in leaved cultivar.