TiiK Tkees of Vermont 49 



PINACEAE 



Hemlock 

 Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. 



Habit. — A large tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk 2-4 feet in 

 diameter ; forming a rather broad, open, somewhat irregular-pyramidal 

 crown of slender, horizontal branches. 



Leaves. — Spirally arranged around the branch, but appearing 2- 

 ranked by the twisting of their petioles ; linear, flat, rounded at the 

 apex; about 3^ inch long; dark yellow-green and shining above, hoary 

 beneath ; short-petioled. Persistent about 3 years. 



Flowers. — May ; monoecious ; the staminate axillary, short- 

 stalked, light yellow, about ^ inch long, composed of subglobose clus- 

 ters of stamens ; the pistillate terminal, oblong, pale green, ^ inch long, 

 the scales short, pinkish. 



Fruit. — Autumn of first season, gradually losing their seeds dur- 

 ing the winter and falling the next spring; oblong-ovoid, acute, short- 

 stalked, red-brown cones, about }i inch long; seeds yi inch long, with 

 wings about twice as long. 



Winter-buds. — Ovoid, obtuse, red-brown, slightly puberulous, 

 YiQ inch long. 



Bark. — Twigs at first pale brown and pubescent, becoming gla- 

 brous, gray-brown ; thick, red-brown or gray on the trunk, deeply 

 divided into narrow, rounded, scaly ridges. Plate II. 



Wood. — Light, soft, weak, brittle, coarse, and crooked-grained, 

 not durable, ill-smelling, light red-brown, with thin, darker colored 

 sapwood. Page 219. 



Distribution. — Common throughout Vermont, especially in the 

 mountain forests. 



Habitat. — Rocky woods and hillsides ; borders of swamps ; moun- 

 tain forests ; low river-banks. 



Notes. — The hemlock is one of the most graceful of our ever- 

 green trees. It may be met with almost everywhere from the low 

 river-banks and swamps to the rocky hillsides and mountain forests. 

 In distinguishing the hemlock from the spruce and balsam fir, one 

 should notice the flat, petioled leaves arranged in a flattened spray with 

 a row on the upper side lying close to the stem. The small ellip- 

 soidal cones, scarcely more than three- fourths of an inch long, mature 

 in the autumn and shed their seeds during the winter. 



