Other Common Names:
Hemlock, Canadian Hemlock, Hemlock Spruce, White Hemlock.
Hemlock, like white.pine, at one time was one of the principal species of our native trees but due to fires and cutting, this tree now exists in small isolated areas principally in gullies formed by brooks or rivers.
It is one of the largest trees reaching a height of 70 feet more and a diameter of up to 2 feet. Its best growth is attained mixed with sugar maple and yellow birch, but occurs in pure stands. Around here it is generally mixed with white pine, red and white spruce, balsam fir and various hardwoods. It will grow in the shade of other trees.
A very reliable distinguishing feature of this tree is its leaves. Always appearing in two ranks, each is attached by a thin thread-like stalk to the side of the twig. No other eastern conifer has this stalked leaf.
The wood is harder and more coarse-textured than most softwoods. It has a great tendency to split between the annual rings ft is used mainly for general construction and railway ties.
DESCRIPTION
LEAVES: Blunt, narrowly elongated, flattened in cross-section, stalked, 2 ranked, 1/3 to 2/3 of an inch long; dark green and grooved above, marked with 2 white lines below.
FLOWERS: May; unisexual male yellow, female pale green, on same tree and usually on same branch.
FRUIT: Autumn; a small short-stalked cone, pale green at first, turning red-brown at maturity, 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long, scales thin, with rounded margins; opening during autumn and early winter, falling soon afterwards.
TWIGS: Slender, hairy and yel1ow-brown at first; buds 1/16 of an inch long, blunt, chestnut-brown.
BARK: Reddish or greyish-brown, scaly, becoming deeply furrowed into broad ridges.
WOOD: Light, moderately hard, non-porous, light brown with paler sapwood.
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