Attached to branchlet by slender stalk. When the needles have fallen off, the twigs are rough. Bark dark, rough, furrowed.
Hemlock trees are beautiful, but the wood is of poor quality.
Saw blades attempting to cut it would often break when they hit the extremely hard knots, so hemlocks in the past were saved from clear-cut logging. Tannin in hemlock bark was used by the Indians to soothe burns, and by early colonists to dye wool and leather. Hemlocks are often found growing on inclines, near rushing water, with their roots straddling rocks. They also tend to grow in groves, creating deep year-round shade that prevents most other plants from growing beneath them.