I planted both baby yew trees and baby hemlocks under the Ponderosa Pines in our arboretum a few years ago. But most did not survive. However, one did quite well. Unfortunately, I did not know which it was. Both have flat needles. Hemlocks get droopy tops when they grow up but this one is not that big. So I consulted google and learned that hemlocks and firs have white lines on the back side of the needles. Yews do not.
My strong survivor had no white lines. It's a yew: Western Yew, Taxus brevifolia.
Recently, I discovered two tiny rather pitiful yew/hemlocks that I thought had died, so I turned over their tiny branches and discovered no white lines. They are yews.
I could find no hemlocks in our woods, but I checked the back sides of the fir trees, something I had never done before. And, sure enough, they had white lines!
Douglas Fir... Pseudotsuga menziesii
Grand Fir... Abies grandis
The undersides of evergreen needles seem to hold more information than the tops.
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