Joseph Dias was a fellow lover of trees.

A town leader and hotelier, Dias led the movement for Cottage City to secede from Edgartown in the late 1800s. As one of three year-round Cottage City residents advocating for the regional split, his claim of Island longevity as the great grandson of the first Portuguese immigrant to Martha’s Vineyard provided some serious street cred.

It was his tree obsession that gets him a place in my column. Credit Skip Finley for reaching out to find out about larch trees, which seemed to be the ones favored by Dias.

In 1881, the Rural Improvement Society of Cottage City thanked Dias for offering to underwrite the purchase and planting of 1,000 larch trees. Skip’s research shows that they were planned for the Campground in the Sunset Lake area and that Dias gave a subsequent gift of 500 unspecified species of trees. It is unknown if these trees were ever planted and you will have to read’s Skip’s article to find out more about this solid citizen.

Eastern larch trees are not native to the Island, though they are native to the region, preferring colder climes. Other types of larch trees that are frequently planted as ornamentals include the European and Japanese varieties, and these have been rooted on the Island periodically for function, industry, and beauty.

Though these trees are conifers and members of the pine tree family, they are not evergreen. As deciduous trees, larches lose their needles after the needles change color in the fall.

Online guidelines suggest that larches not be planted in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones warmer than zone 6 (we are 7A), though Polly Hill designates them as “Island Appropriate” in their web-based Plant Selection Guide and has a few varieties at the Arboretum.

The former advice was heeded neither by the Rural Improvement Society nor the Manuel Corellus State Forest. The 2016 State Forest management plan notes: “Approximately 716 acres of white and Norway spruce, white and Scot’s pine, and Japanese larch plantations remain from past forestry activities.” According to state forest staff, larch can still be found in the forest.

Another opportunity to see a larch tree on-Island is during the Agricultural Fair. Bonsai master Don Sibley’s Japanese larch is always shown in the hall, and, last year, won the Bonsai “People’s Choice” award.

American larch, also called tamarack and Hackmatack (Algonquin), are widespread in mainland Massachusetts and are noted for their ability to germinate in sphagnum bogs. In fact, larch is one of the first trees to invade bogs as seeds, and can even survive in anaerobic (no oxygen) soils.

Its wood is tough and rot resistant and has fibrous root strings that were employed to sew birch canoes and for snowshoes by Native Americans. Colonists used this tree for planking, timbers, shipbuilding, fence posts and lumber. During the Civil War, it was noted that these trees were planted in cemeteries, as they were symbolic of death and rebirth.

In terms of trees, Joe Dias might have been onto something with his affinity for flora. His legacy, however, might have been thwarted by his choice of larch to plant as these trees may not be long-lived in our Island environs. Luckily, his work creating the town of Oak Bluffs had more longevity than those larches.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature and The Nature of Martha’s Vineyard.