PINACEAE 



Eastern Hemlock 

 Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. 



HABIT. A tree usually 60-70 feet high and 2-3 feet in diameter 

 (max. 160 by 6 feet); dense, pyramidal crown with horizontal 

 branches which extend nearly to the ground in open grown trees; 

 typically flexible, drooping terminal leader. 



LEAVES. Flattened; V^-Vz inch long; tapering from base 

 to apex; dark yellow-green and grooved above, 2 narrow, well 

 defined bands of stomata below; abrupt slender petiole; appear- 

 ing 2-ranked; rounded or notched at apex. 



FLOWERS. Male yellow; female pale green, bracts shorter 

 than scales, 



FRUIT. Vi-y^ inch long; oblong-ovoid; light brown; scales 

 suborbicular, smooth-margined. Seed: \{^ inch long with wing 

 about Vs inch long; light brown. 



TWIGS. Slender; light brown and pubescent during first 

 year, becoming gray-brown and glabrous. Winter buds: ovoid, 

 ]/{^ inch long. 



BARK. Scaly on young trees, becoming deeply furrowed and 

 ridged; red to gray in color with purple streaks on freshly cut 

 surfaces; important source of tannin. 



WOOD. Light, brash, coarse-grained, splintery; used for 

 poorer grades of lumber and pulp; knotty as a result of per- 

 sistent branches. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Tolerant; growth rapid; maxi- 

 mum age about 600 years; reproduction abundant and vigor- 

 ous; shallow, wide-spreading root system. 



HABITAT. Cool, moist sites; in small pure groves, or more 

 commonly in mixed stands with white pine, red spruce, or 

 hardwoods. 



Carolina hemlock, Tsuga caroliniana Engelm., is a handsome 

 and somewhat rare tree found in the upper slopes of the Appa- 

 lachian Mountains from Virginia to northern Georgia. This 

 tree, which is commonly planted as an ornamental, diff'ers from 

 eastern hemlock in having the needles extending from all sides 

 of the twigs and in having larger cones which are l-XYi inches 

 long. 



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