The Range of Eastern Hemlock

The Range of Eastern Hemlock

The northern limit of eastern hemlock tree extends from outliers in northeastern Minnesota and the western one-third of Wisconsin eastward through northern Michigan, south-central Ontario, extreme southern Quebec, through New Brunswick, and all of Nova Scotia. Within the United States the species is found throughout New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and the middle Atlantic States, extending westward from central New Jersey to the Appalachian Mountains, then southward into northern Georgia and Alabama. Outliers also appear in extreme southern Michigan and western Ohio, with scattered islands in southern Indiana and east of the Appalachians in the middle Atlantic States.

Locally where I live in east Tennessee the Eastern Hemlock is also called "spruce" *.

Eastern hemlock is very susceptible to fire because of its thin bark, shallow roots, low-branching habit, and heavy litter deposits. It is possibly the most fire-sensitive tree species in its range.

The hemlock was designated official state tree of Pennsylvania in 1931. Eastern hemlock trees were used by early settlers to build log cabins and as a source of tannic acid (for tanning leather). The eastern hemlock (also called Canada hemlock or hemlock spruce) was pronounced the most picturesque and beautiful of the world's evergreens by A. J. Downing, the father of landscape gardening in America.

The eastern hemlock is a prevalent tree in Pennsylvania forests. A slow-growing, long-lived tree which can take 250 - 300 years to reach maturity and may live for 800 years or more.

 

Here's a map suggesting where to see eastern hemlock grow naturally these days:

 

 

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce

Here's another map of where to find "spruce":