36 Native Trees of Canada 



The cones are very small, j^4 in. long. They are stalked and hang downwards 

 from the twdgs. The scales are thin, oval, and tan in colour. 



The hemlock is found from Nova Scotia, throughout the St. Lawrence river 

 valley and Ontario to the western end of the Great Lakes. It is sometimes found 

 in pure stands, but is more often mixed with pines or hardwoods. It occurs on a 

 wide variety of soils, but demands a fair amount of moisture. It makes best growth 

 on rich bottom lands. 



Cheapness, abundance, and strength are the chief qualities that make hemlock 

 lumber important commercially. The wood is coarse in texture, splintery, 

 brittle, cross-grained, and not so durable as pine. Upland trees produce superior 

 lumber often distinguished as "white hemlock." The wood is used for frames of 

 buildings, rough construction, boxes, ties, and poles. It is occasionally used for 

 pulp manufacture. Tannin is extracted from the bark for use in the tanning 

 industry. 



TSUGA HETEROPHYLLA (Raf.) Sarg. WESTERN HEMLOCK 



Common names: Western hemlock, hemlock, British Columbia 



hemlock, Alaska pine*. 

 French name: Tsuga de I'Ouest. 



The western hemlock is a large, rather slow-growing tree 125 to 150 ft. high 

 and 3 to 4 ft. in diameter. The crown is narrow, pyramidal, and very dense. 

 The branches are slender and the branchlets drooping. The tip is slender, whip- 

 like, and drooping. The trunk is usually clear for three-quarters of its length in 

 dense stands. The base of the trunk is often much swollen or thickened. 



On young trees the bark is brownish and covered with fine scales; on older 

 trees it is darker and deeply furrowed into wide, flat ridges. Owing to the thinness 

 of its bark the tree is severely injured by fires. 



The leaves which vary much in size are flat in cross-section, conspicuously 

 grooved, and have blunt, rounded ends. Their stalks are thin and thread-like. 

 They are arranged in two ranks and appear to be growing from opposite sides of 

 the twig. The twig is more or less minutely hairy. 



The cones are small, seldom over 1 in. in length, reddish-brown in colour, and 

 without stalks. The scales, few in number, are longer than broad and coated with 

 a faint down on the upper surface. 



The western hemlock is found from Alaska southward along the whole British 

 Columbia coast. In the interior it is found up to 5,000 feet elevation wherever 

 there is abundant rainfall. It thrives best on deep, porous soils, but will grow in 

 thin, poor ones where there is suflicient moisture. It seldom occurs in pure stands 

 but is usually mixed with Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, and western red cedar in 

 the lower elevations, and mountain hemlock and the various firs in the higher ones. 



