Eastern Hemlock

Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis/Pinaceae). The genus Tsuga contains about 14 four species native to North America and ten to southern and eastern Asia. The 2 main North American species are Eastern Hemlock & Western Hemlock, which can be separated microscopically. The wood of all species in this genus looks alike microscopically. The species native to North America are listed below.

Eastern hemlock is native to Cape Breton Islands, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, the Gaspe’ Peninsula of southern Quebec and Maine, west to southern Ontario, northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and eastern Minnesota, south to Indiana and east to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey and south in the mountains to northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia and northern Alabama. The production of eastern hemlock lumber is divided fairly evenly between the New England States, the Middle Atlantic States, and the Lake States. Mature eastern hemlock trees commonly attain heights of 100 ft (30.48 m), and diameters of 3 ft (0.91 m).

The heartwood of eastern hemlock is pale brown with a reddish hue. The sapwood is not distinctly separated from the heartwood but may be lighter in color. The wood is coarse and uneven in texture and moderately light in weight limberness, and hardness. Eastern hemlock is moderately low in strength, and shock resistance, splintering easily when worked with tools. The heartwood of eastern hemlock is slightly resistant to nonresistant to decay. Eastern hemlock is used principally for pulpwood and lumber in building construction and in the manufacture of boxes, pallets, and crates. Click here to view a chart of Key: Softwoods.

http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/SoftwoodNA/pdf_files/tsugacanadensiseng.pdf