TSUC4A C.ANADENSIS. 465 



. gracilis f'syn. pendula). 

 Branches and branchlets slender and sparsely ramified, all more or 

 less drooping and clothed with leaves smaller than in the common 

 form. Apparently intermediate between the latter and the variety parvifolia. 



var parvifolia. 



Smaller in all its parts than the common form ; the branchlets and 

 their ramifications more numerous and more closely set, and the leaves 

 are but a quarter of an inch long. microphylla is apparently the 

 same, or a slight variation of this. 



var. Sargentiana. 



A bush about three feet high, with short pendent branches and 



branchlets forming a dense flat-topped mass of foliage. The variety 



nana of European gardens is the same, .or a slight modification of this. 



Tsuya canadensis is one of the most important ingredients of the 



forests around the great lakes lying between the British Dominion 



and the United States. From Nova Scotia it spreads westwards to 



Lake Superior, and southwards through the Atlantic States to 



Delaware ; it also occurs on the Appalachian mountains which it 



follows south wards as far as Alabama. In Canada it still forms 



forests stretching for hundreds of miles ; in places unmixed with 



any other tree, but oftener associated with the Black . Spruce (Picea 



nigra) or the White Pine (Pinus Strobus), or both. It attains its 



greatest development on northern slopes and on the banks of mountain 



streams ; in such situations it is one of the most beautiful trees of 



North America. 



Large groves of Hemlock Firs growing on the hill slopes present a 

 noble appearance ; their tall columns free of branches for three-fourths 

 of their height never bend before the gale. There is a general absence 

 of undergrowth, thus affording long vistas through the shady groves; and 

 the softened light invests the interior of these forests with an air of 

 solemn mystery, whilst the even spread of the mossy carpet beneath 

 affords appreciable relief to the foot-sore hunter. The human voice 

 sounds as if confined within spacious and lofty halls.* 



The wood of the Hemlock Spruce is light, soft, coarse-grained and 

 difficult to work. The timber is being much more used than 

 formerly as the supply of White Pine diminishes, chiefly for outdoor 

 carpentry, railway ties, telegraph poles, etc. The dry and easily 

 detached bark of the tree affords excellent fuel, emitting an intense 

 heat ; the fresh bark is rich in tannin, and is more used in tanning 

 leather in the northern States than any other on account of the 

 scarcity of oak -bark. 



Tsuga canadensis was introduced into Great Britain by Peter 

 Collinson about the year 1736, and trees of all sizes and ages may 

 be met with from Caithness to Cornwall. 



* Woods and Forests, p. 754. 

 HH 





