The exceptionally dark foliage of hemlock, and its curious habit of having its topmost branch flop over to the side, like a wizard’s hat, makes this species very distinctive. Indeed, the shade under hemlock trees is so much darker than most other places that snow will stay longer there. Hemlocks are beautiful and graceful plants, and are most common in old forests, although they are also planted. The needles are short and soft (about 1 cm), and vary in length, often with some shorter needles twisted upside-down, laying overtop the twig (these can be seen in the illustrations numbered 2 and 5). The needles have distinctive white lines on the undersides. Balsam fir has similar flattened needles, but these are about twice as long, and are not twisted.