TAMARACK 0R LARCH (Larix Iaricina) Identification and nomenclature — Tamarack or larch is one of the most distinctive of the island’s conifers, and undoubtedly must have been present at the time of European discovery and settlement. However, the first definite mention of the species in island records (including the French period) occurs only in 1796257 presumably it had previously been grouped with the spruces and fir. Thereafter, surprisingly, it is usually recorded under its European name ’larch' (Table 1-4). The North American names 'tamarack’ and ’hackmatack’ occur only three times, and then usually as secondary names after larch. Also surprisingly, the vernacular misnomer ’juniper’ by which the species was, and is, commonly known on the island, is used by only three of the list- makers (Table 1—4), with the earliest use being in 1808258. Interestingly, the earliest written use anywhere of its vernacular Acadian-French name via/on is that of Bishop Plessis who recorded the name during his pastoral visit to Prince Edward Island in 1812.259

General distribution and abundance — The fact that tamarack went unrecorded until 1796, combined with its occurrence in only nineteen of the thirty- six potential tree lists (Table 1—4)26°, suggests that it was not a frequently encountered species on the island. This view is supported by the few comments on its abundance: Walsh (1803) said it was ”not often met with”, while MacGregor (1828) recorded it as ”scarce”25‘, and at the beginning of the twentieth century Crosskill (1904) placed it among the less common of the island’s trees. However, Watson (post 1904) noted it as ”rather common, especially in low wooded growths of western Prince County”, but he added it was not in great quantity or size. It also has a low frequency in the tree tally, receiving only twenty-five mentions (Table 1-1).

25’ [Cambridge] 1796?. 258 Anon. (1808). However, it is interesting that ‘juniper’ is the only name used for the tree in evidence submitted by thirteen different island residents to the Land Commissions of 1860 and 1875, as well as by a census-taker in 1841 (Census 1841), and by [Lawson] 1877-1878,

259 Plessis 1812. See also Massignon 1962, p. 167.

26° The thirty-seventh list, that of [Bain] (1332), did not include the conifer trees. 26' In his later 1832 book MacGregor changed the description to

"not plentiful".

182

Specific areas — MacGregor (1828), in describing the view at Mount Stewart, the residence of Captain John Stewart on the Hillsborough River, noted the presence of ’larch’ "on the north side”262 (see Figure 1—5). Then Thomas H. Haviland, the proprietor of Lot 56 and part of the adjacent Lot 43 in eastern Kings County, in giving evidence before the 1860 Land Commission, drew attention to its presence in that part of the islandm. 'Juniper’ was also reported from the Miminegash area264 and from Lot 7265, and is also extensively recorded in evidence given to the Land Commission of 1875: in Lots 9, 10, 13, 16 and 19; near Carleton Point on Lot 28; at Johnstons River in Lot 35, and on two different farms on Lot 36266. Finally, for what it is worth, we also have Isabella Bird’s reference to her encounter with ”matted juniper" in her venture into ”the old

untrodden forest” near St. Eleanorsz‘”. 26“

Tree size All of the comments indicate that tamarack on the island was considered to be a small to medium sized tree: Walsh (1803) noted that it was "small”, while MacGregor (1828) said it was ”seldom more than a foot and a half in diameter”, which perhaps agrees with Bain's (1890) description of it as ”a medium sized tree” and Watson's (post 1904) that it was ”not [of] .. great size”. Lawson (1877-1878) says that it

grew larger in the Miminegash 'region' than elsewhere on the island. Habitat and community relationships — Several

recorders noted that tamarack, like other conifers, was associated with poor soils: MacGregor (1828) said it occurred "on less fertile soils”, and Bouchette (1832) ”on inferior tracts”, while evidence to the 1860 Land Commission associated

262 He seems to mean the north side of the river rather than of the

house.

263 Land Commission 1860.

264

[Lawson] 1877-1878.

255 Census 1841.

256 Land Commission 1875: for Lot 9, the evidence of Robert Holton; for Lot 10, Daniel McDonald; for Lot 13, Samuel Ramsay; for Lot 16, Donald Campbell; for Lot 19, William Tuplin; for Lot 28, Donald McFarlane; for Johnstons River, Alexander McLean; and for Lot 36, Patrick Smith and H. Braddock.

267

Bird 1856. 268 In addition, but hard to date: according to Le Gallant (2000) (p. 6), the Arsenault settlement in the area of Jude's Point near Tignish was commonly called ‘La Violoniére — most likely due to the presence of violon or tamarack in the area (see also footnote 239 and Sobey 2002, p. 12).