234 ^he Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



TSUGA ALBERTIANA, Western Hemlock 



Tsuga Albertiana, Seneclauze, Conif. i8 (1867); Kent, Veitch's Man. Coni/era, 459 (1900). 



Tsuga Mertensiana, Carrifere, Traiti Conif. 250 (1867); Masters, Gard. Chron. xxiii. 179, fig. 35 



(188s). 

 Tsuga heterophylla, Sargent, Silva N. Amer. xii. 73, t. 605 (1898), and Trees N. Amer. 50(1905). 

 Abies heterophylla, Rafinesque, Atlantic Jour. i. 119 (1832). 

 Abies Mertensiana, Gordon, Pinetum, 18 (1858). 

 Abies Albertiana, A. Murray, Proc. Roy. Hort. Sac. iii. 149 (1863). 



A large tree, attaining in America 200 to 250 feet in height and 20 feet or more 

 in girth, narrowly pyramidal in habit. Bark of old trees reddish brown, and deeply 

 divided into broad, flat, connected scaly ridges. Young shoots whitish grey, and 

 covered with short pubescence, intermixed with scattered long straggling hairs. 

 Leaves pectinately arranged, the shorter leaves on the upper side of the branchlets, 

 those in the median line above often parallel to the twig and directed forwards, 

 exposing their stomatic surfaces. The leaves are ^ to f inch long, linear-oblong, 

 uniform in width, serrulate in margin, dark green above, with a median groove 

 continued up to the rounded apex ; under surface with inconspicuous midrib and two 

 broad white stomatic bands, which are ill defined on the outer side, there being 

 no distinct marginal green bands. Buds greyish brown, ovoid, with an obtuse and 

 flattened apex ; scales keeled and pubescent. 



Cones sessile, about one inch long, ovoid, composed of five series of scales, each 

 series with six to seven scales. Scales spathulate, nearly twice as long as broad, wider 

 in the upper half, abruptly narrowed below, rounded with a slightly acute apex, entire 

 and slightly bevelled in margin, striate and slightly pubescent on the outer surface. 

 Bract small, concealed, lozenge-shaped, pubescent and keeled. Seed with a very 

 long wing, decurrent on the outer side of the seed to the base ; seed with wing about 

 three-fourths the length of the scale. 



The young seedling has three to four cotyledons, which are a little more than \ inch 

 in length, gradually tapering to an acute apex, sessile, flattened beneath, the upper 

 surface two-sided and bearing stomata, margin entire. The young stem is pubescent 

 and bears first two to three whorls of true leaves (three in each whorl), which are 

 serrulate, shortly stalked, and bearing stomata on their upper surface. These are 

 succeeded by leaves borne spirally. The cotyledons are supported by a caulicle, 

 reddish and glabrous, about an inch in length, which terminates in a very slender 

 flexuose tap-root. 



The name Albertiana has been chosen, as it appears to have been published as 

 early as that of Mertensiana under the correct genus Tsuga. Tsuga Mertensiana is 

 now the name given by American botanists to Tsuga Pattoniana, and its adoption 

 would cause considerable confusion. Albertiana, never having been applied to 

 any other species, is correct on the grounds of common sense as well as of 

 priority. (A. H.) 



