Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Tsuga heterophylla
WESTERN HEMLOCK


Higher Taxonomy
Family: PinaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: PINE FAMILY
Habit: Shrub, tree, evergreen; monoecious. Stem: young crown conic; twig not grooved, resinous, generally persistent. Leaf: simple, generally alternate, sometimes in bundles or appearing +- 2-ranked, linear or awl-like; base decurrent, woody or not, persistent several years. Pollen Cone: generally < 6 cm, not woody, deciduous. Seed Cone: generally woody; bracts, scales generally persistent; scale not peltate, fused to or free from subtending bract. Seed: 2, on scale base adaxially.
Genera In Family: 10 genera, 193 species: generally northern hemisphere; many of great commercial value, supplying > 1/2 of world's timber.
eFlora Treatment Author: J. Robert Haller, Nancy J. Vivrette, & James R. Griffin, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: TsugaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: HEMLOCK
Stem: crown conic, top slender, generally nodding; branches +- drooping; bark red-brown; twig with persistent, peg-like leaf bases, hairy or puberulent; bud ovoid. Leaf: 5--25 mm, tapered to a short petiole above persistent base, spreading, +- 2-ranked or not, +- flat, grooved adaxially or not, ridged abaxially. Seed Cone: pendent, 1.2--7.5 cm, ovoid to oblong, opening 1st year; stalk +- 0; bract included, free from scale. Seed: plus wing < 2 cm. Chromosomes: 2n=24.
Etymology: (Japanese: hemlock)
Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.
NATIVE
Stem: trunk < 50 m, < 2.7 m wide; mature bark thin, red-brown, grooves narrow, ridges wide; twig hairy. Leaf: 5--20 mm, persistent 4--7 years; tip blunt to rounded.
Ecology: Scattered in northern coastal conifer to mixed-evergreen forests; Elevation: generally < 700 m. Bioregional Distribution: NCo, w KR, NCoRO; Distribution Outside California: to Alaska, Montana.
Jepson eFlora Author: J. Robert Haller, Nancy J. Vivrette, & James R. Griffin
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Botanical illustration including Tsuga heterophylla

botanical illustration including Tsuga heterophylla

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Citation for this treatment: J. Robert Haller, Nancy J. Vivrette, & James R. Griffin 2012, Tsuga heterophylla, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47422, accessed on April 25, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 25, 2024.

Tsuga heterophylla
click for enlargement
©2022 California Academy of Sciences
Tsuga heterophylla
click for enlargement
©2022 California Academy of Sciences
Tsuga heterophylla
click for enlargement
©2010 Keir Morse
Tsuga heterophylla
click for enlargement
©2022 California Academy of Sciences
Tsuga heterophylla
click for enlargement
©2010 Keir Morse

More photos of Tsuga heterophylla
in CalPhotos



Geographic subdivisions for Tsuga heterophylla:
NCo, w KR, NCoRO
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).