Impressive. A pure stand of Tsuga is not something I see very often. Where is it?

Any problems w/the hemlock adelgid? A sign would be scant foliage or bare trees & snags, but I don't see that there.

Agree w/maackia, not sure I've ever seen a pure grove of hemlocks like that -- usually mixed w/other species in my areas. The grove might have been planted.......

where is this.. big city name good enough

where is that in MI dave???

It's a Michigan Nature Association sanctuary west of Port Huron

Big hemlocks in extreme western Maryland.

OP, you may regret posting anything about hemlocks here. youll probably have multiple people bring up HWA and how theyre surprised you found any alive or not needing to be put out of their misery. also, its not uncommon to see pure groves of hemlock around here. not sure why someone would assume them planted. anyways, nice pictures

I agree with Kyle: pure stands of large old hemlocks are common in the steep ravines and gorges of the Finger Lakes in my neck of the woods.

Away from the steeper areas, beech, sugar maple, black cherry and black/yellow birch co-mingle more with the hemlocks, but the ”pure” stands are still nothing to write home about around here (although they are always stunning to hike around in.)

Nice groves. I’ve seen similar pure groves in the UP of Michigan and northern Wisconsin.

tj

Yes, the Porcupine Mountains in the UP has some beautiful old Hemlocks. You’ll also see large Yellow Birch, whIch are not present in my dry mesic woods. White Pine and Northern Pin Oak rule the canopy here.

I see an understory of hemlock seedlings/saplings on decidedly dry, rocky slopes near me in spots w/an overstory of oaks. So they don't have to be in moist mesic soils. Here's an example -- there were literally hundreds in sight, from tiny to 20 ft. But they do prefer level or generally north slopes. I didn't see any adelgids on these. One problem for them on these sites would be a ground fire -- little resistance.

Beng, that's interesting. This is off topic, but I live within a narrow band called the tension zone separating Wisconsin into two zones from northwest to southeast. The northern part of this zone is northern mixed forest, where hemlock is common. You don't have to get very far north of me to find an abundance of hemlocks or very far south to find shagbark hickory, which also does not grow where I am. I'm not the person to explain why this is, but it is a rather abrupt and noticeable change.

maackia, where I find these hemlocks in the understory, there are rather nearby (within a half-mile), moist gorges where there are old, large ones (many killed by the adelgid). So they have spread outward from those sites into drier, higher oak forests. Of course there are few trees as shade-tolerant as these.

Sorry for the delay in answering a few of these questions.....

We are located in Albion, Maine....about 20 miles NE of Augusta....75 miles NE of Portland.

The hemlocks are located on flat ground.....near an old stone wall which is our property boundry. No "ancient" mother trees around as this was most likely field 100 years ago. I don't think that they were planted but it is still a mystery as to how so many were seeded at around the same time and then thrived after that. There are other hemlocks dispersed on our property some that are larger which might be because they don't have as much competition for light(?).

Yes, hemlocks are known to grow very slowly in deep shade. In fact, some wouldbe dwarf and mini cultivars found in dense shade ended up growing normally once planted in the sun.

tj

Thanks for sharing your trees with us.

As others have mentioned the U.P., your photos made me think of my own trip to the Porcupine Mountains as well. That magnificent old growth hemlock forest is what inspired me to try growing a couple hemlocks in central Minnesota. I couldn't believe the size of those trees. (And I also had no idea that yellow birch could get so big!)