Flora of North America species comparison

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Tsuga mertensiana

mountain hemlock, Patton spruce, pruche de Patton
Habit Trees to 40m; trunk to 1.5m diam.; crown conic.
Bark

charcoal gray to reddish brown, scaly and deeply fissured.
Twigs

yellow-brown, glabrous to densely pubescent.
Buds

oblong, 3–4mm.
Leaves

10–25(–30)mm, mostly spreading in all directions from twigs, curved toward twig apex, thickened centrally along midline, somewhat rounded or 4-angled in cross section, both surfaces glaucous, with ±inconspicuous stomatal bands;

margins entire.
Seed

cones oblong-cylindric, 3–6 × 1.5–3cm;

scales broadly fan-shaped, 8–15 × 8–15mm, apex rounded to pointed.
2n

=24.

Tsuga mertensiana
Habitat Coastal and montane forests to alpine slopes (where it occurs in krummholz form)
Elevation 0–2400m (0–7900ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The wood of Tsuga mertensiana is somewhat inferior to that of western hemlock both for building purposes and as pulp. This is a very handsome tree with its branches densely clothed with pale, spreading leaves and is adaptable to a wide variety of climatic conditions.

M.Van Campo-Duplan and H.Gaussen (1948) postulated that this taxon originated by hybridization between Picea and Tsuga. Although this is unlikely, some characteristics such as leaf arrangement and shape, phenolic chemistry, and pollen grain structure lend some support for this hypothesis.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pinaceae > Tsuga
Sibling taxa
T. canadensis, T. caroliniana, T. heterophylla
Synonyms Pinus mertensiana, Abies hookeriana, Abies pattoniana, Hesperopeuce mertensiana, Hesperopeuce pattoniana, Picea (T.), Pinus hookeriana, Pinus pattoniana, T. crassifolia, T. hookeriana, T. pattoniana var. hookeriana, T.-Picea hookeriana
Name authority (Bongard) Carrière: Traité Gén. Conif., ed. 2 250. (1867)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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