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Montana Field Guides

Western Hemlock - Tsuga heterophylla

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S4
(see State Rank Reason below)
C-value: 6


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
See rank details.
  • Details on Status Ranking and Review
    Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) Conservation Status Review
    Review Date = 05/25/2012
    View State Conservation Rank Criteria
    Population Size

    Score0-1 - Moderate to Large: Population size is imprecisely known but is believed to be >10,000 individuals.

    Range Extent

    Score1 - Peripheral, Disjunct or Sporadic Distribution in MT: Widespread species that is peripheral, disjunct or sporadically distributed within MT such that it occurs in <5% of the state (<7,500 sq. miles or the combined area of Beaverhead and Ravalli Counties) or is restricted to 4-5 sub-basins.

    CommentPeripheral in northwest Montana.

    Area of Occupancy

    Score0-1 - Moderate to High. Occurs in >10 Subwatersheds (6th Code HUC’s), though the species' distribution is not sufficiently documented to place it within one class.

    Environmental Specificity

    Score1 - Moderate: Species is restricted to a specific habitat that is more widely distributed or to several restricted habitats and is typically dependent upon relatively unaltered, good-quality habitat (C Values of 5-7).

    Trends

    Score0 - Stable or Increasing: Population size, range, and/or available habitat stable, increasing or fluctuating in the recent past (approximately 30 years).

    CommentStable?

    Threats

    Score0 - Low: Impacts, if any, to the species are expected to be minor or insignificant (affecting <10% of populations) in severity, scope and immediacy.

    Intrinsic Vulnerability

    Score0 - Low Vulnerability: Species does not have any unusual or specific life history or biological attributes or limted reproductive potential which makes it susceptible to extirpation from stochastic events or other adverse impacts to its habitat and thus slow to recover.

    Raw Conservation Status Score

    Score 2 to 4 total points scored out of a possible 19.

 
General Description
Medium-size trees to 60 m tall with a narrow crown and drooping leader. Bark brown, thin, scaly. Leaves flattened, shiny yellow-green above with broad, white stomatal bands below, 8–15 mm long, borne in a single plane or nearly so. Seed cones green to brown with age, narrowly ellipsoid, 15–30 mm long. Scales oblong-ovoid (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native
 


Range Comments
In MT in Lincoln, Flathead, Sanders, Lake, Mineral and Missoula counties; AK to CA, ID, MT (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 1115

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Mesic to wet forests; valleys to montane; collected in Flathead and Lake counties (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Little, E.L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees (native and naturalized). Agriculture Handbook No. 541. U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 375 pp.
    • Meier, G.A. 1997. The colonization of Montana roadsides by native and exotic plants. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 45 p.
    • Morgan, J.T. 1993. Summer habitat use of white-tailed deer on the Tally Lake ranger district, Flathead National Forest. Ph.D. Dissertation. Montana State University, Bozeman. pp. 103.
    • Schaible, G.A., G.A. Strobel, M.T. Mends, B. Geary, and J. Sears. 2014. Characterization of an endophytic Gloeosporium sp. and its novel bioactivity with 'synergistans'. Microbial Ecology December 2014: 1-10. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0542-y
    • Stansberry, B.J. 1991. Distribution, movements, and habitat use during spring, summer, and fall by mule deer in the North Salish Mountains, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 64 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Western Hemlock — Tsuga heterophylla.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from