Rex Trulove
Both larches and firs are members of the pine family, though neither looks like a pine tree, up close. In the firs, the needles are attached directly to the branches, along its length. People who’ve used real fir trees as Christmas trees have a good idea of how the needles are arranged on a fir branch.
A larch is different in that the short needles are arranged in whorls, as can be seen in this image. Among other things, this is a time-saver for the trees. When they drop their needles in the fall, they actually drop the whorls of needles, rather than needing to drop each individual needle. It can take as little as a few days to a week for an entire larch forest to go from golden-yellow to barren.
This is important in the mountains, where winter-weather can strike abruptly and remain both snowy and cold for months, until springtime.
