PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Pinaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Tsuga heterophylla

Tsuga heterophylla

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthFast

Tsuga heterophylla is found in the cool maritime climate along the coast of N. America and in the cold montane regions of the interior, the annual precipitation varies between (500-)900-3,800 mm, decreasing towards the interior. Dry summers limit its range in the Rocky Mountains[1]. An easily grown plant, it thrives best when growing in a deep well-drained soil in the western parts of Britain where it appreciates the higher rainfall[2]. It grows on a variety of soils with an acid organic top layer (pH 3.5-5)[1]. However, it succeeds in most soils and positions, being especially good on acidic sandy soils[3] but also tolerating some lime[2] so long as there is plenty of humus in the soil[4]. Plants are very shade tolerant when young, but need more sunlight as they grow older[3, 5]. Plants are thin and poor when grown in dry or exposed places[5]. As an extremely shade tolerant conifer it is suitable as an under planted tree in deciduous broad-leaved forest; however, as it in turn shades out every growth under it, this should not be done in (semi) natural woodland where the indigenous flora is valued[1]. Once established, the plant can grow 60 - 150cm per year[2, 6]. New growth takes place from late spring to early autumn, at first it hangs downwards but begins to straighten towards the end of the season[6]. There are trees more than 50 metres tall in Britain[5]. The tree is highly sympatric with Picea sitchensis in most of the range. It is extremely shade tolerant, but has a shorter life span than Pseudotsuga menziesii or Picea sitchensis. Close along the coast it may form occasionally pure stands, but more commonly it is an important constituent of the (maritime) mesothermal coniferous forest. On the Olympic Peninsula of Washington it reaches maximum size, together with other giant conifers[1]. The plant's tolerance to shade allows it to grow up under the canopy of other trees, but a thick moss layer usually prevents the light seeds from reaching the soil. Instead, seeds germinate massively on fallen trees ('nurse logs'), from where a few saplings are able to send roots down into the soil; as a result Tsuga heterophylla often stands in rows ('collonades') long after the nurse log has rotten away[1]. Trees take around 30 years from seed before they produce appreciable quantities of seed[1]. They can live for several centuries in the wild and often produce large quantities of seed[7]. Tsuga heterophylla is a dominant species over much of its broad distributional range. The wood is superior to that of other hemlocks for building purposes and it makes excellent pulp for paper production[8]. Tsuga heterophylla is the state tree of Washington[8]. Plants often form pure stands and cast a dense shade, thus preventing the regeneration of other trees whilst being able to reproduce itself[9]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[5].

Propagation

Seed - it germinates better if given a short cold stratification[10, 11] and so is best sown in a cold frame in autumn to late winter. It can also be sown in early spring, though it might not germinate until after the next winter. If there is sufficient seed, an outdoor sowing can be made in spring[12]. Pot-grown seedlings are best potted up into individual pots once they are large enough to handle - grow them on in a cold frame and plant them out in early summer of the following year. Trees transplant well when they are up to 80cm tall, but they are best put in their final positions when they are about 30 - 45 cm or less tall, this is usually when they are about 5 - 8 years old[5]. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance[5]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tsuga+heterophylla>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  2. [2]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  3. [3]Conifers. — Rushforth. K. · Christopher Helm · 1987 · ISBN 0-7470-2801-X ↩︎Deals with conifers that can be grown outdoors in Britain. Good notes on cultivation and a few bits about plant uses.
  4. [4]Plants for Ground Cover — Thomas. G. S. · J. M. Dent & Sons · 1990 · ISBN 0-460-12609-1 ↩︎An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]Conifers in the British Isles. — Mitchell. A. F. · HMSO · 1975 · ISBN 0-11-710012-9 ↩︎A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.
  7. [7]The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. — Elias. T. · Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. · 1980 · ISBN 0442238622 ↩︎A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.
  8. [8]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  9. [9]Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada — Lauriault. J. · Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. · 1989 · ISBN 0889025649 ↩︎Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.
  10. [10]Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. — McMillan-Browse. P. · Grower Books · 1985 · ISBN 0-901361-21-6 ↩︎Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.
  11. [11]The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. — Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. · Athens Ga. Varsity Press · 1987 · ISBN 0942375009 ↩︎A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.
  12. [12]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  13. [13]Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. — Hitchcock. C. L. · University of Washington Press · 1955 · ISBN - ↩︎A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.
  14. [14]Earth Medicine, Earth Food. — Weiner. M. A. · Ballantine Books · 1980 · ISBN 0-449-90589-6 ↩︎A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.
  15. [15]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples — Turner. N. J. · UBC Press. Vancouver. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7748-0533-1 ↩︎Excellent little handbook about the native food plants of Western Canada. Good descriptions of the plants and their uses with colour photos of most plants.
  18. [18]Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. — Schofield. J. J. · Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska · 2003 · ISBN 0882403699 ↩︎A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
  19. [19]Manual of the Trees of N. America. — Sargent. C. S. · Dover Publications Inc. New York. · 1965 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ · ISBN 0-486-20278-X ↩︎Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the internet.
  20. [20]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  21. [21]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  22. [22]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  23. [23]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  24. [24]Vegetable Gums and Resins. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · ISBN 81-88818-17-8 ↩︎A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.
  25. [25]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  26. [26]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · Ten Speed Press · ISBN 0-89815-041-8 ↩︎A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
  27. [27]Plants Database — United States Department of Agriculture · http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet ↩︎An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.