The mountain hemlock is abundant on high, rocky ridges, but the best
stands are on cool, moist soil at the heads of ravines, on flats, and on
gentle slopes with a northern exposure.
This tree seeds every year. In good seed years the upper branches are
laden with a profusion of beautiful, deep-purple cones, often in such
abundance as to bend down the branchlets with their weight. The
reproduction is slow. In the high mountains the trees are buried in snow
from October to late in June, and the growing season is very short.