Eastern Hemlock occurs from Nova Scotia west to Lake Superior, south through the Lake States, in the northeastern United States, and south along the Appalachians to Georgia. Hemlock can grow on many kinds of soils, but develops best on sites with plenty of moisture. It is highly shade tolerant and fire intolerant.
Hemlock's leaves, or needles, are arranged in flat sprays, are not prickly at tips, and have two white stripes on the undersides. Each needle is attached to the twig by a short stalk. Bark is at first flaky or scaly, then becomes furrowed and on mature trees is divided into irregular, rectangular blocks. Seed-bearing cones are small and brown, the individual scales roundish.
Prefers moist soil, and is common in narrow, shaded valleys, mostly in the mountain zone. A stand of unusually large trees grows in Swallow Falls State Park, on the Youghiogheny River in Garrett County (Brown and Brown, 1972). A number of these trees have been treated for the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, which has been killing hemlocks throughout their range. (For details on treatment, see the Maryland Department of Agriculture Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Management Plan, online.)
Highly threatened by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. A variety of moth species use Eastern Hemlock as a host plant including Comstock's Sallow Moth, Northern Pine Tussock Moth, Larch Tolype, Northern Variable Dart, Gray Spruce Looper Moth, Black Zigzag Moth, Pale-winged Gray Moth, White Triangle Tortrix Moth, and Angle-winged Emerald.
Deer browse the twigs. Red Squirrels and a few songbirds eat the seeds and Ruffed Grouse eat the buds and leaves (Brown and Brown, 1972).
There are 200 records in the project database.
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