Northeast Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carriere
- Family: Pine (Pinaceae)
- Fruits: Autumn
- Field Marks: This conifer is distinguished by its blunt, flat needles that are whitened on the back and by its small, drooping cones up to 1 inch long.
- Habitat: Moist, often rocky woods.
- Habit: Tree to nearly 100 feet tall, with a trunk diameter up to 3 feet; bark deeply furrowed, with rounded, scaly ridges.
- Twigs: Yellow-brown, finely hairy.
- Leaves: Evergreen, the needles appearing 2-ranked, linear, rounded at the tip, very short-stalked at the base, bright green on the upper surface, whitened on the lower surface, up to 3/4 inch long.
- Reproductive Structures: Male cones in the axils of the leaves, more or less spherical, short-stalked; female cones terminal.
- Fruits: Cones woody, drooping, up to 1 inch long; scales more or less spherical.
- Notes: This species is frequently grown as an ornamental. The twigs are browsed by deer, while birds and red squirrels eat the seeds, and ruffed grouse eat the buds and leaves.
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