25. Western Red Cedar

Specimen Size: 100ft tall, 32.25in in diameter.

Location: HUB Lawn North of the brick walkway and west of the Norway Spruce.

Historical Background: Western red cedar is not actually a cedar but belongs to the Cupressaceae family along with cypresses. The name plicata derives from a greek word meaning “folded in plaits”, referring to the patterns in its leaves. Western red cedar has been called “the tree of life” because it provided so many medicinal and practical uses to the native peoples in the Pacific Northwest. This tree is used by numerous tribes in the Pacific Northwest due to its rot-resistant and easy to split wood. Some of its many uses include the constructing canoes, houses, totem poles, baskets, clothing garments, hunting tools, and musical instruments. The Kwakwaka'wakw and other tribes use Western redcedar as fuel for fires and also medicinally. 

Native

Native Range: Western North America

Identifying Features: The coniferous Western redcedar is not a true cedar (see the Deodar, Cedar of Lebanon, or the Atlas Cedar), so looks distinctly different from those other bearing the name cedar on this tour. It does display similarities to Incense cedar of California and Oregon and to the Alaska Yellow-cedar, both of which are also not true cedars. The Western Redcedar displays flattened evergreen needles which appear scale-like pressed closely together in a sweeping arrangement formed by the individual overlapping leaves (much like a flattened braid). They are a light to yellow green in color and turn brown and shed after 3-4 years. The bark of the Thuja plicata is fibrous and tears off in long strips, and can be grey to a deep reddish brown which gives the tree its name. Bark is distinguishable from the Incense cedar which is generally more scaly and slightly less fibrous. It may be distinguished from the Alaska cedar by its cones, which are tiny and green and egg shaped, opening to look like small hard brown rose buds (the Alaska Yellow Cedar has round blue green bumpy cones more like those of a Juniper which mature into brownish cones with mushroom shaped scales. Western Redcedars are incredibly antifungal in nature, adapted to grow in very wet portions of the PNW. Because of this their stumps will often persist for decades or even centuries and may commonly be seen in old clearcuts as the last remnants of the vast old growth which once covered much of the state. Unfortunately this quality also makes their wood highly prized and major specimens are more difficult to find today.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form:  Large thick tree up to 200” (60m) tall and 23” (7m) in diameter, with bases often buttressed and a drooping leader at the top. Branches generally spread and droop slightly before turning upwards at the tip. The branches are flattened horizontally.

2. Leaves: Scale like and closely pressed to the branch, looking very much like a flattened braid, with 4 rows coming together and overlapping in a shingled arrangement. The pattern has been said to look somewhat like a butterfly. Leaves are evergreen and a yellowish to light green and persist on the tree for 3-4 years before browning and falling off.

3. Bark: Grey to a deep reddish brown, fibrous in long strips, aromatic in scent when pulled off.

4. Reproductive Bodies: Pollen cones are tiny and numerous and are reddish in color. The seed bearing cones have 8 to 12 minute scales and are green and egg shaped when immature, turning brown and woody with age. They face upwards and release tiny winged seeds while still upon the tree.