Hemlock is a spruce tree. the hemlock tree should not be confused with the poisonious hemlock plant that was used to kill Socrates.

• botanical information
• origin
• cautions and contraindications

botanical information:

    Botanical name: Tsuga spp.

    Common name: hemlock, hemlock fir, hemlock spruce

    Tsuga canadensis Canadian hemlock, eastern hemlock, spruce pine, white hemlock
    Tsuga caroliniana Carolina hemlock
    Tsuga mertensiana black hemlock, mountain hemlock
    Tsuga heterophylla Pacific hemlock, west coast hemlock, western hemlock

    Use the botanical name when ordering seeds (bulbs, etc.) or when looking up information in the library. Common names vary by nation, culture, and region, and sometimes the same common name is applied to different plants.

    Canadian hemlock trees grow to 80 feet tall and can have a diameter of three (3) feet. Canadian hemlock leaves are narrow, blunt needles. Canadian hemlock bark is reddish brown or grayish brown and is scaly with broad ridges. Male Canadian hemlock flowers are yellow. Female Canadian hemlock flowers are pale green. The Canadian hemlock fruit is a small short cone (pale green, turning to red-brown at maturity.

    Carolina hemlock has spreading branches and widely diverging cone scales.

    Canadian hemlock tree are often used as pulpwood. Black hemlock has much harder wood than Canadian helock. Western hemlock has soft coarse splntery wood and is a commercially important timber tree.

origin:

    Origin: North America.

cautions and contraindications:

    Cautions and contraindications: Hemlock tree is believed to be safe (not to be confused with toxic hemlock).

    Non-toxic to animals: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Animal Poison Control Center has determined that hemlock trees “have not been reported as having systemic effects on animals or as having intense effects on the gastrointestinal tract.” —ASPCA

Some herbs may be poisonious under some conditions. Exercise appropriate care.

    Wild gathering: Avoid wild gathering. Some plants are endangered species. Some plants can be toxic just by touch. Even experts can make deadly misidentifications of wild plants. Please grow your own herbs in your own goddess garden.

   

See also: hemlock, herbs, and trees.

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