Alternate name: Western Arborvitae, Canoe Cedar

Family: Cupressaceae, Cypress view all from this family

Description Large to very large tree with tapering trunk, buttressed at base, and with a narrow, conical crown of short, spreading branches drooping at ends; foliage is resinous and aromatic.
Height: 100-175' (30-53 m) or more.
Diameter: 2-8' (0.6-2.4 m) or more.
Leaves: evergreen; opposite in 4 rows; 1/16-1/8" (1.5-3 mm) long. Scalelike, sharp-pointed; side pair keeled, flat pair usually without gland-dot; shiny dark green, usually with whitish marks beneath.
Bark: reddish-brown, thin, fibrous, and shreddy.
Twigs: much-branched in horizontal plane, slightly flattened in fanlike sprays, jointed.
Cones: 1/2" (12 mm) long; clustered and upright from short, curved stalk; elliptical, brown; with 10-12 paired, thin, leathery, sharp-pointed cone-scales; 6 usually bearing 2-3 seeds with 2 wings.

Habitat Moist, slightly acid soils; forming widespread forests with Western Hemlock, also with other conifers.

Range SE. Alaska southeast along coast to NW. California; also SE. British Columbia south in Rocky Mountains to W. Montana; to 3000' (914 m) in north; to 7000' (2134 m) in south.

Discussion Particularly resistant to rot, Western Red Cedar is the chief wood for shingles and one of the most important for siding, utility poles, fenceposts, paneling, outdoor-patio construction, and boatbuilding. Indians of the Northwest Coast carved their famous totem poles and split lumber for their lodges from this durable softwood. The name "Canoe Cedar" refers to the special war canoes hollowed out of giant trunks. Indians also used the wood for boxes, batons, and helmets and the fibrous inner bark for rope, roof thatching, blankets, and cloaks. The largest Western Red Cedar measures 21' (6.4 m) in diameter, ranking second only to the Giant Sequoia among native trees; however, this species is not among the tallest.