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Tsuga caroliniana

Common name:	Carolina Hemlock	Family:	Pinaceae
Author:	Engelm.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-eastern N. America - W. Virginia to Georgia.
Habitat:	Usually found growing singly or in small scattered groves of a few individuals on the rocky banks of streams at elevations of 750 - 1200 metres[82].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Carolina Hemlock [FEIS,DEN1,B,P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Pinales. Pine family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 15m by 8m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in leaf all year, in flower in April, and the seeds ripen from October to November. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedge, Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Inner bark; Tea.

Inner bark - raw or dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickening in soups etc or mixed with cereals when making bread[2, 46, 161].
The leaves and twigs yield 'spruce oil', which is used commercially to flavour chewing gum, soft drinks, ice cream etc[183].
A herbal tea is made from the young shoot tips[2, 62, 95, 159, 183]. These tips are also an ingredient of 'spruce beer'[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antipruritic; Astringent; Birthing aid; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Kidney.

The bark is astringent, diaphoretic and diuretic[21]. A tea made from the inner bark or twigs is helpful in the treatment of kidney or bladder problems, and also makes a good enema for treating diarrhoea[21]. It can also be used as a gargle or mouthwash for mouth and throat problems or externally to wash sores and ulcers[21]. A poultice of the bark has been used to treat itchy armpits[257].
The powdered bark can be put into shoes for tender or sweaty feet or for foot odour[21].
An infusion of the stem tips has been used to treat kidney problems[257].
A decoction of the roots has been used as a birthing aid to help expel the afterbirth[257]. The roots have been chewed in order to treat diarrhoea[257].

Other Uses

Dye; Hedge; Resin; Rust; Tannin; Wood.

The inner bark has been used to make baskets[257].
A rosy-tan dye can be obtained from the bark[257].
The bark is a source of tannin[257].

All the uses listed below are based on the uses of T. canadensis and reports in [46, 61, 82] that this species has similar uses.
Yields a resin similar to Abies balsamea, it is gathered by incisions in the trunk or by boiling the wood[46, 61, 64].
A pitch (called hemlock pitch), is obtained by distillation of the young branches[46]. 'Oil of Hemlock' is distilled from the young branches according to another report[82].
The boiled bark has been used to make a wash to clean rust off iron and steel, and to prevent further rusting[257].
Tolerant of light trimming, plants can be grown as a hedge[81]. This species does not make a good hedge in Britain[200].
Some cultivars can be grown as a ground cover when planted about 1 metre apart each way[208]. 'Pendula' is slow-growing but makes a very good cover[208].
Wood - coarse-grained, light, soft, not strong, brittle, not durable outdoors[21, 46, 61, 82, 171, 229]. Difficult to work because it splits easily[226]. The wood weighs 26lb per cubic foot[235]. The trees do not self-prune and so the wood contains numerous remarkably hard knots that can quickly dull the blade of an axe[226]. A coarse lumber, it is used occasionally for the outside of buildings[21, 46, 61, 82, 171, 229]. It should be used with caution as a fuel for outdoor fires because it can project embers and burning wood several metres from the fire[226].

Cultivation details

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[11]. However, it succeeds in most soils and positions, being especially good on acidic sandy soils[81] but also tolerating some lime[11] so long as there is plenty of humus in the soil[208]. Plants are very shade tolerant when young, but need more sunlight as they grow older[81, 200]. Plants are thin and poor when grown in dry or exposed places[200]. This species is more tolerant of atmospheric pollution than T. canadensis[11].
A slow growing tree in Britain, it requires hot humid summers[200]. It is probably less slow in the far west and in Ireland[185]. Trees have not done well in this country even though they are very cold-tolerant[11].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - it germinates better if given a short cold stratification[80, 113] 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[78]. 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[200]. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for the family Pinaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
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.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. 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.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[64] Howes. F. N. Vegetable Gums and Resins. Faber
A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[80] McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. 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.

[81] Rushforth. K. Conifers. 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.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 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.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. 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.

[185] Mitchell. A. F. Conifers in the British Isles. 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.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. 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.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

[226] Lauriault. J. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada 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.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. 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.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany 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.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.