RANUE AND CHARACTER OF PATTON's HEMLOCK. 53 



PATTON'S HEMLOCK, 



Tauga pattoniana (Jeff.) Engelm. 



This species of conifer is comparatively unknown to the majority 

 of the people of the Cceur d'Alenes, and when seen is frequently con- 

 founded with Mertens's hemlock ( Tsuga mertensiana). It is a tree which 

 in the C<cnr d'Alenes is pretty closely confined to the higher divides. 

 Its range is from the Clearwater divide in the south, where it forms 

 more than 75 per cent of the forest, through the canyons and on the 

 divides of the upper St. Joseph, on all the divides between the St. 

 Joseph and the Co-ur d'Alene River, throughout the main range of the 

 Bitter Hoots, on the divides between the North and South forks east of 

 Nine mile Creek, and sparingly on the higher peaks in the eastern part 

 of the North Fork basin. It is absent from all the ridges, except the 

 Clearwater divide, which form the basin of the St, Mary River, from 

 all the mountains around Lake Cceur d'Alene, and from the whole 

 western portion of the North Fork basin. The tree is essentially an 

 inhabitant of the high ridges above an elevation of 1,500 meters (4,900 

 feet). It forms here a very large proportion of the forest growth. It 

 is much more abundant on the Clearwater divide and on the upper 

 St. Joseph than elsewhere, diminishing very rapidly in numbers as we 

 go northward. 



The species is well adapted to stand the severe winter blasts of 

 these high, exposed ridges. Large trees are seen only in protected 

 saddles or sheltered ravines; on the open part of the mountains, where 

 the tree stands alone or in scattered groves, the species is low and 

 squatty and the branches are short and stiff, to retain as little snow as 

 possible and to present a small surface to the storms. It is of slow 

 growth. A tree 15 cm. (0 inches) in diameter showed 75 annual rings. 

 This was in an exposed rocky place, where the growth was perhaps 

 slower than in more favorable localities. In sheltered places, in the 

 saddles of the ridges, and in the upper portions of the canyons which 

 head in the Clearwater divide the tree is seen to best advantage. It 

 readies here a height of 30 to 10 meters (100 to 130 feet), with an 

 extreme diameter of 70 cm. (28 inches), commonly from 35 to 50 cm. 

 (14 to 10 inches). The crown on such well-developed individuals is 

 about three-fifths the total length of the tree. Its growth is slow, even 

 with the most favorable surroundings. Trees with a diameter of 50 

 cm. (19 inches) will give 200 to 250 annual rings. The wood is very 

 dense, close grained, and hard, utterly unlike the wood of any other 

 conifer of the Cumr d'Alenes. It resembles, in a degree, as to its qual- 

 ities, the wood of the white ash of the eastern United States. If the 

 species grew in accessible places it would be a valuable tree and be 

 extensively used. As it is, the tree is not utilized in any way. The 

 bark contains but little tannin. It is one of the few species inhabiting 

 the high ridges of the Cceur d'Alenes which bear cones abundantly 



