Hemlock–tsuga canadensis

photo of Hemlock.

Hemlock is a long living tree found across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence and Deciduous forest regions. It is commonly associated with Yellow Birch, and maple, and is very shade tolerant. It is usually found on cool moist soils near water, and is an excellent wildlife tree, providing cover from snow. White-tailed deer often yard in the winter under stands of Hemlock.

Hemlock has been used for lumber and railway ties, and is often planted as an ornamental tree. Hemlock represents less than 0.1% of Ontario’s annual harvest, and is 1% of its total growing stock volume.

Map of Hemlock relative occurrence

map of Hemlock distribution in Ontario indicating low (light brown), moderate and high (dark green-brown) levels of relative occurrence.

Enlarge map of Hemlock relative occurrence

Area and proportion of Hemlock in the AOU (area in hectares)

Statistic Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
Total Area Containing Hemlock 527,272 114,409 424,271 1,065,952
1-25% of stand 409,643 75,853 369,417 854,912
26-50% of stand 94,970 27,712 46,756 169,437
51-75% of stand 18,805 8,872 7,206 34,882
76-100% of stand 3,854 1,973 892 6,720
Average Proportion in All Forest (%) 0.4 1.7 1.1 0.6
Area of Hemlock Working Group 85,908 29,290 44,442 159,640

Growing stock volume of Hemlock in the AOU (volume in thousands of cubic metres)

Statistic Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
Gross Total Volume 21,059 6,022 15,214 42,295
Net Merchantable Volume 14,456 4,134 10,827 29,417
Current Annual Increment 96 27 107 230

Hemlock working group area by age class

vertical bar graph of the Hemlock working group area by age class including brown for Crown, green for park and grey for other.