Michigan Trees: A Handbook of the Native and Most Important Introduced Species

by Charles Herbert Otis

3. Cross-section of leaf, enlarged.

4. Branchlet with partly opened cone, × 1.

5. Cone-scale with seeds, × 3.

PINACEAE

Hemlock

Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.

HABIT.—A large tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk 2-4 feet in diameter; forming a rather broad, open, somewhat irregular-pyramidal crown of slender, horizontal branches.

LEAVES.—Spirally arranged around the branch, but appearing 2-ranked by the twisting of their petioles; linear, flat, rounded at the apex; about 1/2 inch long; dark yellow-green and shining above, hoary beneath; short-petioled. Persistent about 3 years.

FLOWERS.—April-May; monoecious; the staminate axillary, short-stalked, light yellow, about 3/8 inch long, composed of subglobose clusters of stamens; the pistillate terminal, oblong, pale green, 1/8 inch long, the scales short, pinkish.