The Siberian larch is native to the areas on both sides of the Ural Mountains. It is spreading west and the nearest natural forests can be found on the eastern shore of Lake Onega (Ääninen in Finnish) in Russia. The species grew in Finland before the last Ice Age and thrives now throughout the country. The straight trunk and fine branches make it an ideal forest tree. The crown is narrowly conical. The young branches are stiffer than those of other larches and seldom droop. In autumn it is the first larch to change colour.
Siberian larch has been grown in Finland since the 1700s. The oldest known plantation is the Raivola (Lintula) stand on the Karelian Isthmus, which is considered the best provenance for seed for Finnish conditions. The oldest parts of the Raivola stand were established in the 1700s using seed from Arkangel, with later plantings from seed originating west of the Urals. The Raivola larches are ecologically adaptable and have been grown successfully throughout Scandinavia, including Iceland.
A Siberian larch stand was planted at the north-eastern edge of Arboretum Mustila using Raivola seed in 1928. At Lepistö there is also another stand, whose seed provenance is Tomsk in western Siberia; this stand has grown less well, for ecological reasons.
