Tsuga caroliniana
Carolina Hemlock
Pinaceae
ExpandHabitat
- native to the southern Appalachian Mountains
- zone 5
Habit and Form
- a needle evergreen tree
- medium-sized, reaching 40' to 60' with a 20' to 25' spread
- branches horizontal to slightly pendulous
- a bit stiffer-looking than T. canadensis
- overall pyramidal shape
Summer Foliage
- leaves are 0.25" to 0.75" long and about 0.10" wide
- leaves radially arranged on top of the branches and at the tips, but also 2-ranked in places
- dark green above, with 2 white bands on the underside
- shoots pubescent
- needles are glossy and look "plastic-like"
Autumn Foliage
- evergreen, no fall color
Flowers
- monoecious, with male and female flowers
- small and inconspicuous
Fruit
- small cones, about 1" to 1.5" long
- light brown color when mature
- larger than T. canadensis cones with cone scales that recurve slightly and open widely
Bark
- reddish brown
- scaly and fissured
Culture
- best growth on cool, moist, well-drained soils
- transplant from containers or B&B
- ovoid, dry, hot or windy sites
- full sun or partially shaded locations are best
- tolerant of pruning, but perhaps not as tolerant as T. canadensis
- perhaps more pollution tolerant than T. canadensis
Landscape Use
- lawn tree
- specimen
- screening; especially useful in shade locations
- small grouping or groves
Liabilities
- spider mites
- deer like to browse the foliage or rub the bark with their antlers
- not heat, wind, or drought tolerant
- hemlock wooly adelgid is a new and devastating insect pest that can be easily controlled, but left unchecked can kill large plants in 3 years.
- may be hard to locate for purchase
ID Features
- pyramidal, medium-sized, needle evergreen tree
- short flattened needles
- twigs roughened by persistent leaf bases remaining after needles fall
- numerous small, widely opened cones
- separated from T. canadensis by the way the needles radiate from around the stem, the larger cones and the smooth leaf margins
- rhizomatous growth
- foliage in terminal whorls
- diamond-shaped leaves with coarse serrations at the end of each leaf
Propagation
- by seed
- cultivars are grafted
Cultivars/Varieties
This plant is not common in the industry in any form, but specialty nurseries do list selected varieties occasionally.
'Arnold Pyramid' - This is a dense columnar form that grows to 40' tall.
'Compacta' - A shrub-like plant, this cultivar grows densely to form a mound that is wider than tall.
'Greenbrier' and 'La Bar's Weeping' (also listed as 'LaBar Weeping') - These are unusual weeping forms. The first selection forms a small tree much wider than tall with pendulous branches, while the latter cultivar naturally creeps along the ground. It must be staked upright if a small tree is desired to display the red-brown stems and deep green needles.