THE HEIVILOCKS 2G1 



cause it is rigid and never lets go its hold upon a nail or 

 spike. 



The Western Hemlock 



T. heterophylla, Sarg. 



The Western hemlock is a giant that dominates other 

 trees in the Western mountain forests, famous for their 

 giants of many different names. It is a noble pyramidal 

 tree that reaches two hundred feet in height and a maxi- 

 mum trunk diameter of ten feet. Its heavy horizontal 

 branches droop and hold out feathery tips as light and 

 graceful in the adult monarch as in the sapling of a few 

 years' growth. The characteristic hemlock foliage, lus- 

 trous green above and pale below, is two-ranked by the 

 twisting of the slender petioles. 



From southeastern Alaska, eastward into Montana and 

 Idaho, and southward to Cape Mendocino in California, 

 this tree climbs from the lowlands to an altitude that ex- 

 ceeds a mile. TOierever there are rich river valleys and 

 the air is humid, this hemlock is superb, the delight of 

 artists and lumbermen. At its highest range it becomes 

 stunted, but always produces its oval, pointed cones in 

 abundance. 



Its wood, the strongest and most durable in the hemlock 

 family, is chiefly used in buildings, and the bark for tan- 

 ning. 



The Mountain Hemlock 



T. Martensiana, Sarg. 



The mountain hemlock of the W^est is called by John 

 Muir "the loveliest evergreen in America.'' Sargent en- 

 dorses this judgment with emphasis. It grows at high 



