Lushootseed names:

Cedar Tree: x̌payʔac (hcch-piey-ats)

Cedar Bark: suk̓ʷəb (Sauk-uhb)

Cedar Root: st̕əx̌ʷšəd (st-ach-wo-shed)

Location: East of the Burke Museum parking lot just behind the totem standing in a small grove which also includes Western Redcedar.

Summary: Climb into the high forests of western Washington, and you are likely to come across an example of this delightful drooping denizen of the mountains. While not quite as well adapted to alpine zones as trees like the Subalpine Fir or Alpine Larch, the Alaska Yellow Cedar does prefer a more elevated environment here in our state. Washington’s high mountains are near the southern edge of this tree’s range (although the species may be found growing all the way down to sea level in Alaska). A member of the cypress family and relative of the more lowland oriented Western Redcedar, they may be distinguished from this cousin by rounded Juniper-berry-like cones, double pointed needle tips, and conspicuous drooping boughs. Their mature foliage hangs down as if the tree is weeping. Curiously, the Alaska Yellow Cedar is almost unique amongst northwest conifers in that it does not occur in any of the mountain ranges east of the Cascade Mountains (with the exception of two small known populations which may be remnants of a more extensive range during the last glacial maximum).

Alaska Yellow Cedar trees can achieve truly marvelous sizes. At least four specimens are known to measure over 11ft in diameter and up to over 200ft tall. It seems likely that before the overwhelming majority of northwestern forests were logged for timber that there would have been even more specimens of such stature. On the other side of the size spectrum, in more extreme environments such as subalpine slopes, this species may be just as likely to live out its life as a shrubby bush, any attempts at greater size crushed down by high amounts of snowfall and a short growing season.

These trees can survive to ages in excess of 1500 years. Much like the Redcedar, Yellow Cedar is a powerfully important tree to the Indigenous nations of this region. Its rot resistant wood exhibiting many properties which make it useful for medicine and materials. The tree is especially important to the peoples whose traditional homelands exist from Haida Gwaii north was, where it replaces Redcedar as the major source of dugout canoes, baskets, clothing, blankets, ropes, and more.

Identifying Features light: The Alaska Yellow Cedar has a very distinctive appearance amongst native Washington trees, that being its beautiful weeping form. The sprays of overlapping flattened needles hang gracefully in sheets from the drooping branches, a trait which makes it readily distinguishable from its cousin the Western redcedar. Looking more closely, there are more key differences. The cones of the Yellow cedar are juniper-like, rounded with flattened scales, not rosebud in appearance like the redcedar. Additionally, the bark is less stringy, instead having irregular fissures and often graying patches with numerous diagonal ridges. While it is called the Yellow Cedar, this is a reference to the internal bark, that of the exterior being a reddish-brown to grey color. A final distinguishing feature (only while trees are not budding new spring growth) is that on the terminal tips of the Yellow Cedar leaves the lateral scales points extend beyond the tip, making two little points on either side. The western redcedar by contrast has rounded terminal tips with no overextending scales.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: Tall and narrow-crowned, growing in a cylindrical shape with horizontal or slightly drooping branches to a height of about 70-100 feet (15-30m) (although specimens of over 200 feet have been identified). Trunk size is variable and slow to grow, with some specimens of 200 years of age having a diameter of just 15 inches. Trunks have been known to achieve a diameter greater than 13 feet. The Alaska Yellow Cedar has an extremely distinctive weeping shape to its foliage, which may be seen even at a distance.

2. Leaves: The leaves are evergreen and present themselves in overlapping flattened sprays. They are a yellowish green color and pointed on the terminal tips, growing opposite in 4 rows. They are about 3 mm in length.

3. Bark: Gray to brown in color, with long fibrous fissures surrounding shreddy patches. Newer bark can have smooth grayer patches. Less red and fibrous compared to most Western redcedar. Twigs are a reddish brown color and spread horizontally.

4. Reproductive Bodies: Cones are distinctive in the Pacific Northwest, large (up to about ½” or 12 mm) in diameter, reddish brown when mature and rounded in shape. Each has 4-6 rounded cone scales with a long point and mature in 2 seasons. Each scale may have 2-4 seeds sheltered beneath, but good seed crops are infrequent.

Historical Background: 

Also called the Sitka Cypress, this species growing up the west coast is as wrapped in indigenous heritage as any other native tree of North America, but due to the wide range of its beneficial properties it holds an even more significant place in cultural practices than many others. Like with its distant relative the Western Redcedar, the wood of this tree has many valuable properties. Nearly every part of the tree can be harvested for human use. It is lightweight, rot resistant, and close grained, and due to the fact that it wears to become smoother rather than rougher it is an outstanding choice for making canoe paddles. Wood is also traditionally used by many pacific northwest tribes to construct bows, totems, dishes, and digging sticks. It was also used in the creation of bentwood boxes, whose contents are protected by the rot resistant qualities of the tree. Many of the longhouses central to the community in tribal life have been constructed of the Yellow Cedar or Western Redcedar. Large poles would make up the frame and cedar shingles provide roofing, a perfect rot resistant material for the temperate rainforest. The Fibrous bark can be woven into strong ropes and is used for nets, hats, blankets, mats, and clothing. The roots can be similarly used as a sturdier weaving material following treatment. If done properly such weaving can even be used to make waterproof and heatproof containers. In clothing, the lightweight bark could be effectively woven into a durable armor. It is also valuable as tinder for starting fires and was traditionally used as a sanitary napkin during menstruation due to its softness and absorbing nature. Additionally, the trees' anti-inflammatory qualities make the leaves and bark a source of good medicine.

Notably, the harvesting of these materials using indigenous practices is far less destructive than that practiced using contemporary forestry methods. Harvesting of the bark is traditionally delegated to women in many northwest tribes and is a selective process, with only a portion of the bark removed from any given tree ensuring its continued survival. The scars of these harvests from hundreds of years ago may still be seen on the trees of old growth forests to this day, notable in that the trees live on. This harvest requires skill and a deep knowledge of the tree since doing it wrong can easily result in infection of the tree or a stunting of its growth. Harvesting of a whole tree is traditionally a task generally delegated to men of the group, a process which required a huge amount of work and employed a variety of tools, often including fire.

The tree is also important in origin stories for the Tlingit, whose homeland stretches from just north of Haida Gwaii into modern southern Alaska. For them the wood of the Yellow Cedar was used in the creation of the first Orca.

In contemporary times, the wood has been used for a variety of purposes, including interior finish, cabinet work, and poles, as well as musical instruments. It is also valuable in boat building. Unfortunately, modern harvest methods are not well suited to this special tree. Alaska Yellow Cedars can grow to be over 1000 years old, with one specimen known to be at least 1834 years of age. Many hollowed out specimens may be still older but it is difficult to measure such still living specimens without their rings. One tree on Vancouver Island B.C. has been measured at over 200 feet tall and 13.6 feet in diameter, but many of the old growth forests in the northwest have been logged, and the declining remaining patches continue to be logged in spite of obvious ecosystem damage. Much of the forest where these trees remain as old growth remains such not because of benevolence on the part of man but because they stand on terrain too rough to reach by the loggers saw, for now. The preservation of the tree is further in jeopardy as it generally only reaches timber size after 200 years, and only infrequently produces good seed crops. 

Native Range: The Alaska Yellow Cedar may be found growing up the west coast from patches in Southern Oregon to the Prince William Sound in Alaska. It extends inland only in extremely isolated patches beyond the Cascades and Canadian Coast Range and may be found from sea level in Alaska and at elevations of about 3000 feet at the southern extent of the range. Further inland they may achieve elevations of 7000 ft..