The Canadian or Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is, in my opinion, an under-utilized landscape tree. Perhaps they are spurned as too common, or rejected because they get too big.

Eastern hemlock grows from sea level to about 2,500 feet in elevation in the northeastern and northern portions of the range. The Images of Eastern Hemlock. Chhe/Wikimedia Commons.

The Eastern hemlock has soft needles and an upright, open habit of growth with a conical shape. The trees grow very tall, 40-60 feet tall, but there are shorter cultivars.

Its scientific name is "Tsuga canadensis."The eastern hemlock was named the state tree in 1931.These trees are slow-growing and long-lived, taking 250 to 300 years to reach maturity.

The eastern hemlock tree is a foundational species native to East Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and New York, according to Adventure Scientists.

A new hemlock hybrid named Traveler, 20 years in the making, has been developed by the Agricultural Research Service to address the devastating effects of a pest named the hemlock woolly adelgid.

The eastern hemlock tree is a foundational species native to East Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and New York, according to Adventure Scientists.

The woolly adelgid, an invasive pest that infests and eventually destroys hemlock trees, has made one incursion into Eastern Canada and biologists say it's likely to turn up again.

The eastern hemlock tree is a foundational species native to East Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and New York, according to Adventure Scientists.