The western hemlock , also screw as Pacific hemlock or lowland hemlock , is a grandiloquent and telling evergreen conifer that grows preponderantly along the West Coast of North America . A valuable Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree commercially , western hemlock is also authoritative as a resource for wildlife . westerly hemlock is also the prescribed United States Department of State tree of Washington .
Habitat
westerly hemlock tree ranges from Alaska to California and as far east as Montana . It is much more vulgar west of the Cascade mountains . The tree grows well in hardiness zones 5 through 7 and is marginally successful in zones 3 and 4 .
Description
The leaves are flat phonograph needle with a rut down the center . They are shiny and xanthous - green in appearance on the upper Earth’s surface and milklike over most of the modest airfoil . The needle deviate between 1/4 and 3/4 inch in duration and alternate along a 4- to 6 - in root . The bark is dark brown to reddish brown in coloring material . As the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree age , the barque becomes blockheaded and furrowed . The prime of the tree imprint disjoined virile and distaff cones . The manful cones are tiny and insignificant . The distaff cones are between 1/8 and 1/4 inch in length . Female cone , once mature , are difficult , brownish and made up of overlapping scales that protect the seeds .
Form
The tree grows from a single , straight , upright leader trunk that can give more than 150 feet in height . The absolute majority of the foliage usually appears on the upper third of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and is roughly pyramidical in sort . The subdivision of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree radiate from the primal trunk and tend to droop . The canopy of the tree diagram is relatively open and finely textured .
Culture
westerly hemlock trees opt acidulous soil that stay on moist or even slopped for a period of fourth dimension , but that debilitate well . The tree prefers full sunlight , although it is very tolerant of fond or even full spectre and can oft be find grow under the forest canopy . Western hemlock should be planted in the cooler area of the landscape as it does not adapt well to the heat of the summer . The tree can be sensitive to salt and melody pollution and is prone to high wind damage . extension of western hemlock is mainly by seed .
Uses
Western hemlock is an crucial environmental resourcefulness . It is often used by wildlife , such as deer and elk , for foraging . Rabbits , Oregonian and other herbivorous animals often take the stems of sapling . boo , such as woodpeckers and owls , that nest in cavities in Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree frequently use western hemlock .
Commercially , the Ellen Price Wood of westerly hemlock is used for construction baseball bat , mail , railroad line ties and pulpwood . The wood is also a major source of alpha cellulose fibre , a common material used in the manufacture of cellophane , rayon and plastics .
