The Spruces: The Hemlocks 



335 



the coast belongs to the following species, and is now known under 

 the name by -which it was described at an earlier period : 



1358. THE MEXZIES SPRUCE (Picca Sitchensis) is found from Men- 

 docino Co., California, to Alaska, and is strictly a coast species. It 

 seldom grows at an elevation of 



more than 500 feet, but in Ore- 

 gon, Washington Territory, and 

 British Columbia, it attains a 

 large size, being sometimes 150 

 to 200 feet in height, with a di- 

 ameter of six to nine feet. It is 

 exported as a timber, and is 

 coarse but strong. It grows to 

 best advantage on a damp sandy 

 soil. The common name is given 

 in honor of Dr. Archibald Men- 

 zies, who was surgeon and botan- 

 ist in Vancouver's exploring ex- 

 pedition, about the end of the 162. Lenves and Cone of the :.renzies 

 j j" j 10^0 Spruce, of two-thirds Uie Natural 



last century, and died m 1842. size. 



THE HEMLOCKS. (Genus Tsuga.) 



1359. There have usually been described under the genus Abies, 

 but are now classified separately. The cones are usually small and 

 pendant at the ends of the twigs, the bracts shorter than the scales, 

 and both remain adherent to the axis. The leaves arc flat or angled, 

 in two rows, and with a very short petiole. There arc five species, 

 of which one is found in Asia, and four in North America. Of the 

 latter, two are found on the eastern and two en the western side. 



13GO. THE HEMLOCK (Tsuga Canadensis). This is one of the 

 most widely diffused and most useful of the conifers in the Northern 

 States, extending from Maine to Wisconsin, and along the Alle- 

 ghenics southward to North Carolina. It is abundant in New Bruns- 

 wick, and in Ontario and Quebec. In North Carolina, where it oc- 

 curs on the borders of mountain ravines and in cold swamps, it is 

 known as "Spruce-Pine." It is sometimes called the "Hemlock- 

 Spruce," and by the French of Canada " Peruche." 



1361. In the Northern States, and especially in New Yoriv and 

 Pennsylvania, its bark is used to an immense extent for the tanning 



