THE HEMLOCK 



THE Hemlock is one of the most beautiful and best known of our native conifers. 

 On account of its slender twigs and small, flattened leaves it has a grace of 

 growth, especially when young, which is lacking in most of the evergreens. It is 

 an abundant and characteristic feature in nearly all our Northern forests, ranging from 

 Nova Scotia to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, on the north, and extending south- 

 ward along the mountain slopes to Alabama and Georgia. The smaller branches have a 

 flattened appearance, due largely to the two-ranked arrangement of the leaves along 

 each side. One of the most characteristic features is to be found in the row of leaves along 

 the top of the branch, extending in the same direction as the twig and commonly lying 

 flat upon it. The leaves in this top row are usually but about half the length of the main 

 series of leaves along the sides. The latter are commonly about half an inch long and 

 each leaf has a very short petiole, which is also a distinguishing feature of the Hemlock. 

 The leaves are bright shining green on their upper surfaces and much lighter on the under 

 surface, this latter effect being chiefly due to the whitish stripes along and beside the 

 midrib. When rubbed together in the hands the leaves have a slightly resinous odor. 



The Hemlock is beautiful at any season of the year, but it has an especial charm just 

 as the new growth has developed on the ends of the twigs in early summer, each young 

 branch being of a beautiful light green color that forms a charming harmony with the 

 dark rich green of the rest of the branches. These variegated sprays of the Hemlock give 

 to the underwoods in June one of their most distinctive attractions. 



The Hemlock comes into blossom rather early in the spring. The masses of staminate 

 flowers are shown on the twig at the extreme left of the plate, while the cone-like, seed- 

 bearing flowers are shown on the next twig. The latter develop during the same season 

 into the rather small cones of a red-brown color, which generally do not fall off until the 

 following spring. In the forest the Hemlock trees attain a large size and furnish lumber 

 useful for many purposes. The tree is also valuable for ornamental planting, having 

 been developed by horticultural art into a great variety of forms which are offered by 

 nurserymen. 



The Carolina Hemlock (Tsuga Caroliniana) is a more graceful species than its 

 northern cousin, and is coming rapidly into favor for ornamental planting. It is generally 

 to be distinguished by its longer, darker green leaves with entire margins; the cone-scales 

 are oblong. In Alaska and the far Northwest there are two other species of Hemlock, 

 both of which have been utilized for landscape planting in Europe. 



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