Hemlock, one of Maine's widespread conifers, is long lived and grows in shaded, moist areas. Indigenous people used it extensively to treat a variety of ailments, including arthritis and colds, and more recently it was used as tannin in leather production. It provides excellent winter cover for grouse, deer, and snowshoe hare and is an important winter food source for deer, porcupine, and rodents. It also provides breeding habitat for birds such as the wood thrush, dark-eyed junco, and chickadee.