Hemlock Spruce

Hemlock Spruce (Tsuga Canadensis) - A forest tree sometimes over 100 feet high, with a diameter of 4 feet in the trunk, inhabiting very cold northern regions from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and southwards along the mountains. It has been much planted in England, but it has not so far seemed to attain the stature and form that it shows in Canada. Its rather numerous varieties are of slight value. In my own planting of the Hemlock Spruce near water, while the growth is free, constant, and unharmed by any winter, I am vexed to see every tree breaking from the bottom into half a dozen or more stems, splitting up the energies of the tree. I have seen a very pretty hedge of the Hemlock Spruce near Philadelphia. It would prove, I think, a good evergreen hedge plant where the dangerous poison of our own Yew makes its use impossible in any place to which horses or cattle have access.

Related Flowers

Caroline Hemlock Spruce

Caroline H.S. (Tsuga Caroliniana) - A forest tree attaining a height of 70 to 80 feet, 4 feet in diameter, graceful and beautiful in a mature state. As yet it is little planted in England, and in my planting proved a tender tree. Alleghany Mountains. Syn., Abies Caroliniana.

Western Hemlock Spruce

Western H.S. (Tsuga Mertensiana) - A noble tree of fine and picturesque habit, allied to the Eastern Hemlock but larger—sometimes 200 feet high, with a trunk dia meter of 10 to 12 feet. Coming from such fog-moistened regions as Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the coast region of N. California, we look for a tree hardy enough for our island climate, and in this noble Hemlock we have it. The foliage, as graceful as a Fern, is of a deep, lustrous green, and silvery white beneath. Though hardy in this country, it is best in sheltered places in deep moist soil. Syns., Abies mertensiana and Albertiana.

Alpine Hemlock Spruce

Alpine H.S. (Tsuga Pattoniana) - A beautiful and stately tree 100 to 150 feet high, and from 6 to 10 feet in diameter of trunk, with dark green foliage on slender branches that sway in the slightest wind. Alpine and sub-alpine forests in the Sierras of N. California, the Cascades and northern Rocky Mountains, often at great elevations. Hardy and at home in Britain.

Japanese Hemlock Spruce

Japanese H.S. (Tsuga Tsuga) - This tree, known also as T. Sieboldi, is as graceful in growth as the Canadian Hemlock Spruce and fully as hardy. It takes more of the character of a large and dense spreading bush than of a tree, and is useful for grouping with other conifers.