General Description | It is from the cold north-eastern climate of North America and is a medium sized tree that extends up to 24 m, with a trunk that is usually tapered at its base. Forms a broadly pyramidal crown; its hanging branches have pensile tips. |
ID Characteristic | You can determine the Eastern Hemlock from all other native eastern conifers by its slender twigs and oblique leading shoot. It has ‘nodding’ branch ends; the top of its crown has a slender 'leader' that cascades downwards. |
Shape | Upright, weeping, conical, pyramidal habit. Tapered trunk in youth, pendulously pyramidal with age. |
Landscape | Can make a remarkably handsome evergreen hedge. There is a very good example of this in the Arboretum at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. Also suited to screening, groupings, as an accent plant, or used in a park or institutional setting. |
Propagation | Propagate from seed in the spring. Stratify seeds for 1-4 months at about 1-5°C to ensure good germination. Semi-ripe cuttings harvested from January to mid-February and placed on a bench with a bottom heat of 18°C. |
Cultivation | Root pruning aids transplanting. Moist, well-drained, acidic soils; soil pH of 5.0-6.5 is preferable; transplant in early spring. Tolerates shade, can grow in full sun with well-drained soil. Prune individual shoots, instead of shearing the entire plant. |
Pests | Woolly adelgid has been the biggest insect menace to the Hemlock thus far. Other threats to the Hemlock are: rust, mite, hemlock looper, spruce leaf miner, gypsy moth, hemlock sawfly hemlock fiorinia scale and sunscorch. |
Notable Specimens | There is a fine specimen of Tsuga canadensis ‘Calvert’ situated in a courtyard at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Rayner Gardens, London, Ontario, Canada has some excellent climax specimens along the park edge bordering the Thames River. |
Habitat | Rocky ridges, ravines, hillsides. Extends through southern limits of Northern Ontario. |
Bark/Stem Description | Scaly in youth, becoming deeply grooved with dark brown, broad, flat-topped ridges. Outer bark is dull reddish purple, inner bark is bright reddish purple. The bark contains tannin, which at one time was a commercial source for tanning leather. |
Flower/Leaf Bud Description | Minute, ovoid shape with fuzzy scales, light brown in colour, 2 mm in size. |
Leaf Description | Small ovoid needles, arranged in 2 rows; greyish brown and pubescent when young, maturing to glossy dark green, 2 greyish bands on undersides, notched with a short leaf stalk. Leaves are 0.5-1.7 cm long, and 20-30 mm wide. |
Flower Description | Monoecious; light yellow stamens, pistil is pale green. Male flowers are auxiliary on previous year’s shoots. Female flowers are green coloured and are terminal on last year’s lateral shoots: they also have imbricated scales. |
Fruit Description | Pendulous cones are stalked, slender and ovoid, apex is almost obtuse. Cones are 1-2.5 cm long, and 0.05-1 cm wide. Brown in colour when mature and arising from branch ends hanging downwards. Cones shed their seeds during the autumn. |
Colour Description | Retains its green colour throughout the seasons. |
Texture Description | Soft and fine textured. |