Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Canadian Hemlock is a type of coniferous tree that hails from the eastern part of North America. It is the Pennsylvania’s state tree. This tree variety grows well in shadow and is extremely long lived, with the oldest witnessed sample, found in Tionesta in Pennsylvania, being 554 years as a minimum age. The tree is capable of shearing to any shape or height. They grow well in all kinds of soil, except in heavy soils. When the tree is fully grown up, it attains the shape of a cone with its wide branches. The brown-colored bark of the tree is scaly and profoundly fissured, particularly with age. The growth rate of the Canadian Hemlock tree is slow to average that grows well in full sun to light shadow.

Features

The Canadian Hemlock tree is an evergreen shrub that generally attains the height that ranges from 40 feet to 70 feet, with the trunk diameter of 4.5 feet. Usually, the trunk of the tree is straight and monopodial, but very infrequently, it is forked. The branches of the tree are yellow-brown in color with thickly pubescent. These branches spread to a range from 25 feet to 35 feet.

The leaves of the Canadian Hemlock tree are flattened and are usually distichous, or double-ranked. The length of the leaves of the tree ranges from 0.6 inches to 0.9 inches. The base of the leaf is glaucous with two wide and obviously visible stomata bands, whereas its top part is a glossy green to yellow-green in color. The margins of the leaf are somewhat toothed, particularly near the top.

The seed cones of the Canadian Hemlock tree are in the shape of an ovoid. Their length ranges from 0.6 inches to 1 inch and the diameter ranges from 0.4 inches to 0.6 inches. Usually, these seeds are not resinous, but they may be slightly sour in taste. They have ovate to cuneate in shape, measuring from 0.3 inches to 0.5 inches in length and from 0.3 inches to 0.4 inches in breadth. There are 24 diploid chromosomes available within the DNA of the Canadian Hemlock tree.

Uses

The wood of the Canadian Hemlock tree is flexible, coarse-grained, and it is light buff in color. The lumber of the tree is used for the wide-ranging construction and crates. Due to the strange power of the tree to hold spikes, it is as well, employed for railroad ties. The wood of the tree is also used as fuel, and it is also a good resource of pulp in the manufacturing of paper.

The average lifespan of the Canadian Hemlock tree can be more than 900 years.