Tsuga

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Pinaceae >

Tsuga >

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Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

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Scientific Names

Read about Tsuga in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Tsuga (its Japanese name). Pinaceae. Hemlock Spruce. Hemlock. Ornamental trees, grown chiefly for their graceful habit and handsome evergreen foliage. Resinous trees with slender horizontal branches: lvs. usually 2-ranked, short-petioled, linear, flat or angular, falling away in drying: staminate aments axillary, sub-globose; ovule-bearing aments terminal, the scales about as long as the bracts, each with 2 ovules at the base: cones small, ovate, or oblong with thin flexible persistent scales, much longer than the bracts; seeds winged.—Nine or 10 species in N. Amer., E. Asia, and the Himalayas. The genus is closely allied to Abies and Picea and differs little in the structure of the fls.; the cones are very similar to those of the larch, but the lvs., which are much like those of Abies in their outward appearance, though smaller, are very different in their internal structure from all allied genera, having a solitary resin-duct situated in the middle of the lf. below the fibro-vascular bundle. The light, soft, brittle and coarse-grained wood is not durable and not much valued except that of T. heterophylla, which is harder and more durable, and that of T. Sieboldii, which is esteemed in Japan for its durability. The bark is rich in tannin and that of T. canadensis is extensively used for tanning leather. T. canadensis should be called "hemlock spruce," but in common speech it is usually alluded to as "hemlock." The "hemlock" of the ancients is a poisonous umbelliferous herb described in this work as Conium maculatum. The hemlock spruces are evergreen trees of pyramidal habit, with spreading irregularly whorled much ramified branches clothed with small linear usually two-ranked leaves and small cones which are usually freely produced. The cones are only about 1 inch long except in one species, which has cones two or three times as large. T. canadensis is quite hardy North and the Japanese species and T. caroliniana have proved hardy as far north as Ontario. T. Mertensiana is almost as hardy. T. heterophylla is tenderer. There are probably no more beautiful hardy conifers than the hemlocks, and they must be ranked among the most ornamental and useful trees for park planting. They do not have the stiff formal appearance of many of the conifers, but are graceful and stately at the same time. T. heterophylla is the most vigorous species and is more graceful than the Canadian hemlock, but tenderer. T. Mertensiana is noticeable for its light bluish green foliage and the more narrow pyramidal habit. T. Sieboldii is a very handsome species with dark green glossy foliage, but of slow growth and in cultivation usually remains shrubby. T. canadensis bears pruning well and is well suited for tall hedges (see Gng. 2:289. Gn. M. 2:15; 4:19). The other species will probably bear pruning equally well. The hemlocks are not very particular as to the soil, provided it contains a sufficient amount of constant moisture. Tsugas are not difficult to transplant. Propagation is by seeds sown in spring and by grafting on T. canadensis. The varieties and the Japanese species are also raised from cuttings. See also Arboriculture, Abies, and Picea for cultivation. T. chinensis, Pritz. Tree, to 120 ft.: branchlets yellowish gray, pubescent: lvs. 1/2 - 1 in. long, rounded or emarginate at the apex, green or nearly so beneath, entire, on young plants sparingly toothed and with narrow white lines beneath: cones sessile, about 1 in. long, lustrous. Cent. and W. China. G.C. III. 39:236 (cones, as T. yunnanensis). Has proved hardy at the Arnold Arboretum and thrives well.—T. dumosa, Sarg. (T. Brunoniana, Carr.). Tree, to 120 ft.: lvs. gradually tapering from the base, serrulate, acutish, with broad silvery white lines beneath, 3/4 – 1 1/4 in. long: cone 1 in. long. Himalayas. G.C. II. 26:73, 501. Tender.—T. Fretzii - Pseudotsuga taxifolia var. Fretzii.—T. yunnanensis, Mast. Tree, to 150 ft.: branchlets with rufous-gray pubescence: lvs. rounded at the apex, entire, with white lines beneath, 1/2 - 1 in. long: cones 3/4 - 1 in. long, dull, with fewer scales than T. chinensis. W. China. G.C. III. 39:236 (excl. cones). Growing at the Arnold Arboretum, and apparently quite hardy. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Tsuga. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Tsuga QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)