Seeking Healthy Hemlocks

Have you spotted any healthy hemlock trees in your walks through the forested land of this state? If so, researchers at the University of Rhode Island may be interested in your find. An effort is underway to find eastern hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis) resistant to two introduced pests, woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa), with the goal of raising healthy new trees from cuttings taken from resistant individuals.

You might have found a good candidate tree if it meets the following requirements:

• in a forested setting
  
• at least 10 feet tall
  
• relatively free of signs of the woolly adelgid
  
• has deep green needles on full, thick branches
  
• surrounded by dead, mature hemlock trees
  
• naturally resistant (not treated using insecticides or other control measures)

Report possible sightings to URI grad student Laura Ingwell by phone, at 401-874-4083, or by email at: hemlock AT etal DOT uri DOT edu.

Read more about the search for healthy hemlocks in this article from the Providence Journal, or this URI press release. If you want to learn more about how to identify the eastern hemlock, try this site or this one.