Tsuga, from Japanese, the name of Tsuga sieboldii) is a genus of conifers in the subfamily Abietoideae of Pinaceae, the pine family. The English-language common name “hemlock” arose from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant hemlock. Unlike the latter, Tsuga species are not poisonous.
The genus comprises eight to ten species (depending on the authority), with four species occurring in North America and four to six in eastern Asia.
