Tsuga caroliniana

• BOTANICAL NAME: Tsuga caroliniana
• PRONUNCIATION: SU-ga care-o-LIN-e-ana
• COMMON NAME: Carolina Hemlock
• FAMILY: Pinaceae
• NATIVITY: Virginia, south to Georgia, in the mountains.
• GROWTH HABIT: Pyramidal habit with somewhat pendulous branches.
• SIZE: 25 - 40' in cultivation, to 60' in the wild.
• HARDINESS: Zone 4 - 7.
• CULTURE: Native to high elevations and cool climates. May be better adapted to landscape conditions than Canadian Hemlock. Prefers a light shade and moist, well-drained soils.
• LANDSCAPE USE: Evergreen screen, large groupings and occasional specimen use. A smaller plant that is more tolerant than Canadian Hemlock.
• FOLIAGE: Alternate, radiating around the stem, 1/4 - 3/4" long. Margin is entire.
• BUDS: Small, rounded, pubescent.
• BARK: Red-brown, scaly and deeply fissured.
• FRUIT: Cone 1 - 1 1/2" long, with scales held at 90o to the central axis.
• PROPAGATION: Seed, cultivars are grafted or rooted with difficulty.
• PESTS: Scales, mites, wooly adelgid, but less prone to these than
Tsuga canadensis.
• CULTIVARS:
  • `Labar's Weeping' - ends of the branches have a distinct weeping habit.