Western Hemlock

Western Hemlocks are easy to identify. They have short (1/2”), flat, delicate and glossy topped needles and very small cones (also 1/2”) that cover limbs like a blanket. A shade tolerant tree, it is the State Tree of Washington. Needles are single and arranged to give a flat appearance. From afar, one can always deduce a Western Hemlock in that its top “droops.” Look to the top of the tree to identify it. It can grow to 175’ tall and have a 9’ diameter trunk. Limbs appear to droop, bark is brown to reddish bark with deep vertical ridges when needles fall, you see a woody leaf base. Hemlocks were once often found mixed with other conifers, especially the firs. It likes moist and deep forests. Its wood is/was used for lumber and paper pulp, but like every other conifer except Douglas Fir, it is not often replanted. Mature specimens are found by Kiosk 7; PLC’s sponsored WWU SAM Project’s extinction probability is slight, safe in state and Federal Parks (but not state and Federal forests). Found around the Pacific Rim, its genus name “Tsu-ga” is Japanese for “tree” and “mother.” With many small needles that are shed over time, it is a fairly messy tree to plant in one’s yard. But if you have a bit of land, it and a dozen other native conifer species deserve planting among the Douglas Fir plantations of the Pacific Northwest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuga_heterophylla
https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=TSHE
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Tsuga+heterophylla
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-07.pdf
https://www.treespnw.com/resources/2017/8/14/qy1msttx24qfxklshqx6hlhatjcn2m
https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/western-hemlock-bull-tsuga-heterophylla.html

The tops of Western Hemlocks most often droop in what direction in the north Pacific Rim?

to the south
to the NE
to the north

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