Broad -crowned tree to 30 m or so in the wild. Trunk often dividing near the base. Branchlets hairy. Leaves tapered, 6-16 mm long in 2 ranks. Cones c. 2.5 cm long, green with slender, short stalks.
Grows naturally on montane rocky slopes, sometimes next to streams and becoming a tall tree. Climatically unsuited to most of Australia. In south-eastern Australia known essentially through its cultivars.
E North America.
NSW: Mt Tomah (Bot. Gds); Mt Wilson ('Cherry Cottage', large tree c. 30 m tall). VIC: Buchan (Caves); Dandenongs ('Pirianda' c. 14 m tall).
Source: (1995). Pinaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Tsuga canadensis 'Albospicata'
Dwarf form, branch tips whitish. There may be several clones under this name. Possibly developed from witches broom and putting on coarse growth after a few years. Old cultivar.
Tsuga canadensis 'Angustifolia'
Small, bushy, compact, growth irregular. Leaves narrow. Raised in nursery of G.L. Ehrle, Clifton, New Jersey, USA.
Tsuga canadensis 'Coles Prostrate'
('Cole') Dwarf, branches in centre mostly without leaves, prostrate in flat sprays. Collected h.r. Cole at foot of Mt Madison, Coos County, New Hampshire, USA, 1929.
Dwarf, conical; branches short and crowded. Various clones may be encountered under this name.
('Curly') Dwarf, upright, with young leaves crowded and curled around the shoots. Grows to 1 m in 10 years. Found by h. Epstein of Larchmont, NY, USA and introduced c. 1969.
Tsuga canadensis 'Dwarf Whitetip'
Dwarf, broadly conical; branchlets dense. Leaves white late in season but fading in autumn. Assumed to originate from the Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, usa and introduced c. 1965.
Tsuga canadensis 'Everitt Golden'
Compact habit. Branches ascending slightly. Leaves golden in early season, becoming greenish in late autumn. Discovered by S.A. Everitt in 1918 on slope near Eaton, New Hampshire, USA.
Spreading, compact shrub. Summer growth with short leaves. Selected 1913 from seedlings imported from France to the USA.
Dwarf form developed from witches broom and putting on coarse growth after a few years. Found by Charled Fremd and introduced by the Koster Nsy, Boskoop, Holland c. 1932.
Tsuga canadensis 'Gentch Variegated'
Flattened, round, dense bush. Leaves at the ends of the shoots creamy-white. Discovered o. Gentsch, West Merrick, Long Island, New York.
(possibly 'Nana Gracilis' of Australia) Branches and branchlets generally drooping. Leaves short. Raised Waterer and Godfrey, Knaphill, England.
Tsuga canadensis 'Horsford Cmpact'
('Horsford Dwarf') (Compact form of 'Horsford' which is not recorded for Australia) Short, compact, rounded bush with crowded leaves and branchlets that bend back. Originated usa as a sport found by Fred Bergman post 1965.
Tsuga canadensis 'Jacqueline Verkade'
Small, upright, rounded shrub. Originated as seedling in Verkade Nursery, Wayne, New Jersey, USA c. 1961.
Forming flattened mound. Seedling selection, Jeddeloh nursery, Oldenburg, West Germany.
Small bush with weeping habit, bearing many small green cones. Origin unknown and best regarded as a descriptive name with no clear application.
('Bennett', 'Bennetts Minima') Widespreading shrub. Late season's leaves short and giving a fan effect. Raised by m. Bennett, nurseryman, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, usa c.1920. The cultivar known as 'Bennetts Minima' is presumed to be what is known also as 'Bennett' and 'Minima', these at one time considered different but, according to Welch identical with the latter name having priority.
Dwarf, c. as broad as tall, extremely slow growing, branching irregular. Leaves short and close together. Introduced in usa c. 1935.
Dwarf, compact, round; branches relatively thin and congested; leaves small. Introduced usa c. 1969.
Dabit hemispherical with pendulous branches concealing the centre. There may be several clones under this name.
Tsuga canadensis 'Ruggs Washington Dwarf'
Dense, rounded, cushion-shaped. Leaves bronze to yellow esp. in spring. Probably introduced by r.m. Warner, Milford, Connecticut, usa.
Tree-like or multi-stemmed but with all terminal growth pendulous. One of several pendulous forms that have been selected from seedlings and grow more or less true from seed.
('Strangeri') Dwarf form developed from witches broom and putting on coarse growth after a few years. Cherry Hill Nsy, Newberry, Massachusetts, usa c. 1965.
S Globe' Irregular, more or less oval bush with ascending branches. Leaves becoming smaller towards the tip of the shoots. Introduced Ralph m. Warner, Milford, Connecticut, usa c.1984.
Application of this name uncertain.
('Young's Coning', a mistaken name used in Harrison's "Ornamental Conifers") Branches weeping, growth upright, cones prolific after several years. Found by Greg Williams in a pasture in Vermont, usa c. 1984.
