Tsuga canadensis 'Armistice'

(No common name)

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - Green Plants
    - Phylum: Magnoliophyta Cronquist, Takhtajan & W. Zimmermann, 1966 - Flowering Plants
      - Subphylum: Spermatophytina (auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Seed Plants
        Infraphylum: Gymnospermae auct.
        Class: Pinopsida
        Order: Pinales - Conifers
        Family: Pinaceae (py-NAY-see-ay) Lindley, 1836, nom. cons. - Pine Family
        Subfamily: Abietoideae
        Genus: Tsuga (Endlicher) CarriÃ¨re, 185. 1855 - Hemlock [Japanese tsuga, name for native hemlocks of Japan]
        Specific epithet: canadensis
        Cultivar: Armistice
        Botanical name: Tsuga canadensis 'Armistice'

Notes:

A tentatively accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Physical Description

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Family Pinaceae:

Trees or rarely shrubs, evergreen or deciduous, monoecious. Branchlets often dimorphic: long branchlets with clearly spirally arranged, sometimes scalelike leaves; short branchlets often reduced to slow growing lateral spurs bearing dense clusters of leaves at apex. Leaves solitary or in bundles of (1 or) 2-5(-8) when basally subtended by a leaf sheath; leaf blade linear or needlelike, not decurrent. Cones unisexual. Pollen cones solitary or clustered, with numerous spirally arranged microsporophylls; microsporophyll with 2 microsporangia; pollen usually 2-saccate (nonsaccate in Cedrus, Larix, Pseudotsuga, and most species of Tsuga) . Seed cones erect or pendulous, maturing in 1st, 2nd, or occasionally 3rd year, dehiscent or occasionally indehiscent, with many spirally arranged ovulate scales and bracts; ovulate scales usually smaller than bracts at pollination, with 2 upright ovules adaxially, free or only basally adnate with bracts, maturing into seed scales. Seed scales appressed, woody or leathery, variable in shape and size, with 2 seeds adaxially, persistent or deciduous after cone maturity. Bracts free or adnate basally with seed scales, well developed or rudimentary, exserted or included. Seeds terminally winged (except in some species of Pinus) . Cotyledons 2-18. Germination hypogeal or epigeal. 2n = 24* (almost always) .

Ten or eleven genera and ca. 235 species: N hemisphere; ten genera (two endemic) and 108 species (43 endemic, 24 introduced) in China.

Species of the Pinaceae are among the most valuable and commercially important plants in the world. Most species are trees, and are often excellent sources of lumber, wood products, and resins; many are cultivated for afforestation and as ornamentals.^[1]

Genus Tsuga:

Trees evergreen; crown conic; leading shoot usually drooping. Bark gray to brown, scaly, often deeply furrowed. Branches horizontal, often tending to be arranged in flattened "sprays" and arched downward; short (spur) shoots absent; young twigs and distal portions of stem flexuous and pendent, roughened by peglike projections persisting after leaves fall. Buds mostly rounded at apex, not resinous. Leaves borne singly, persisting several years, ± 2-ranked or radiating in all directions, flattened to somewhat angular; abruptly narrowed to a petiolelike base, set on peglike projections, these angled, projected forward, sheath absent; apex rounded or notched; resin canals 1. Cones borne on year-old twigs. Pollen cones solitary, globose, brown. Seed cones maturing in 1 year, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter or persisting for several years, pendent, ovoid, oblong, or oblong-cylindric, sessile or nearly so; scales persistent, shape various, thin, leathery, lacking apophysis and umbo; bracts small, included. Seeds winged; cotyledons 4--6. x =12.

Species ca. 10: Northern Hemisphere.

Species of Tsuga are found naturally in areas of relatively moist climates where water stresses are minimal. Most are conspicuous, if not dominant, members of the communities in which they occur.

Hemlock wood is moderately strong and pliable and lacks resin ducts. With the decline of associated species considered superior in commercial value, hemlocks have become important in the timber industry, especially for pulp. Hemlocks are also widely used for horticultural purposes; numerous cultivars have been developed.^[2]

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Tsuga:

Bibliography

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Cheng Wan-chün, Fu Li-kuo, Law Yu-wu, Fu Shu-hsia, Wang Wen-tsai, Chu Cheng-de, Chao Chi-son & Chen Chia-jui. 1978. Pinaceae. In: Cheng Wan-chün & Fu Li-kuo, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 7: 32-281.

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Notes

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Identifiers:

Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1858142

Footnotes:

Liguo Fu, Nan Li, Thomas S. Elias & Robert R. Mill "Pinaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 11. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
Ronald J. Taylor "Tsuga". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

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Last Revised: May 07, 2008