Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Dunkeld Larch

“Spring brings with it so much change, more this year than usual,” says Sarah Low, executive director of the Tacoma Tree Foundation. “From one week to the next we have been observing different trees blooming and leafing out. This week it is the larch’s turn. It is one of just a few coniferous trees that loses its needles every fall. And unlike our deciduous trees, the larch looks completely done for when the needles fall (more tactfully described as stark), but in the spring they come back brilliantly green. I get so much joy from this tree.”

Larix × marschlinsii, first described in 1917 by Swiss forester Johann Coaz (1822–1918), is commonly known as Dunkeld larch. The tree is the focus of this week’s Tree-dimensional Tacoma, Peaks & Pints’ weekly Tacoma tree column. Inspired by our house beer, Kulshan Brewing Tree-dimensional IPA, Peaks & Pints branches out for a weekly look at terrific trees of Tacoma, in conjunction with our friends at Tacoma Tree Foundation.

“There are several Dunkeld larches at Point Defiance Park near the duck pond,” continues Low. “Yes, the park is officially closed due to COVID-19, but I jumped off my bike and ran across the lawn to hug the Dunkeld larch, which is a hybrid between the European larch and a Japanese larch. It is best suited for parks, so not a tree to plant during your spring landscaping projects, but definitely a tree to admire. And when it looks dismal in the late fall, remember that it will come back strong and bright.”

Check out the Dunkeld larch from afar, then fill a growler of Tree-dimensional IPA (6.8%) at Peaks & Pints. Kulshan Brewing collaborated with the Tacoma craft beer lodge on their house beer. Paying homage to the outdoor enthusiasts who join Peaks daily in Tacoma’s Proctor District, Tree-dimensional IPA is the perfect beer to toast the powder, currents or trails, as well as reveal the sprains. Tree-dimensional IPA, or Tree-D, continues Peaks & Pints’ love affair with old school piney IPAs, this time brewed with Simcoe, Idaho 7, CTZ, Centennial, and whole leaf Cascade in the hop back for all the pine, a little citrus, with a creamy mouthfeel and bitter finish. The Tree-D is in cans, too!

Tacoma Tree Foundation is dedicated to educating, empowering, and supporting community members in neighborhood-based greening. In other words, the Tacoma organization strives for a greener, healthier, more connected Tacoma — which plants well with Peaks and Pints. We will host TTF fundraisers during Tree-dimensional IPA’s reign as our house beer, which pours through October 2020.

LINK: Kulshan brews Peaks and Pints Tree-dimensional IPA

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Sugar Maple

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Tulip Poplar

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Giant Sequoia

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Pin Oak

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Douglas Fir

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Incense Cedar

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Plume Sawara Cypress

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Western Red Cedar

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: Ponderosa lemon hybrid

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: London planetrees

LINK: Tree-dimensional Tacoma: “Vanderwolf’s Pyramid” limber pine