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MONTANA FIELD GUIDE™

MONTANA FIELD GUIDE™

 

  • Home - Return Home
    • Kingdom - Plants - Plantae
      • Division - Conifers - Pinophyta
        • Class - Conifers - Pinopsida
          • Order - Conifers (excluding yew) - Pinales
            • Family - Fir / Hemlock / Larch / Pine / Spruce - Pinaceae
              • Species - Western Hemlock - Tsuga heterophylla
Western Hemlock - Tsuga heterophylla

Native Species

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


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 





State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Tsuga heterophylla is a common tree species in the most mesic forest types in northwest Montana. No significant and widespread threats to the species are known.
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) Conservation Status Summary
State Rank: S4
Review Date = 09/22/2026
See the complete Conservation Status Rank Report
How we calculate Conservation Status Ranks
CC BY NC
 
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
Range in Montana
CC BY NC
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: 1113
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
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).
Predicted Suitable Habitat Model

This species has a Predicted Suitable Habitat Model available.

To learn how these Models were created see here

National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Forest and Woodland
Montane - Subalpine Forest and Woodland
Wetland and Riparian
Riparian and Wetland Forest


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.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Western Hemlock"
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Citation for data on this website:
Western Hemlock — Tsuga heterophylla.  MONTANA FIELD GUIDE™.  .  Retrieved on , from