Family: Cupressaceae

Common name: Western redcedar

E-flora BC: https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Thuja%20plicata

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja_plicata

Western redcedar has a central place in First Nations culture in our area. Its root and bark fibers are used for weaving many different items. Its wood is used as construction material for long houses, canoes, totem poles and many other things. Cedar boughs and foliage are used for ceremony and medicine. Western redcedar is sometimes referred to as the Tree of Life, as it provides so much benefit to the people.

Bark strips have been harvested from these western redcedar trees. Removing only a strip of bark (not the whole circumference) does not kill the tree. Photo credit: Lotus Johnson via Flickr

Western redcedar prefers moist sites in our forests. As the climate changes, and our summers become warmer and drier, the distribution of western redcedar is likely to become more restricted, while drought tolerant trees such as Garry oak (Quercus garryana) might become more widely distributed.

A western redcedar in Bowen park, Nanaimo. Note the feathery foliage and drooping branch tips.

If you’re walking in a forest of large trees, where the foliage is not easily observed, then you can identify western redcedar by its fibrous ‘stripey’ bark.

Striated grey bark of western redcedar. The trunk of larger tress is often buttressed or fluted – i.e. wider at the base. Photo credit: Douglas Fraser

The foliage of western redcedar is distinctive. Though its a conifer like Douglas-fir, shore pine and western hemlock, it doesn’t have needles. Rather, its leaves are modified into tightly overlapping scales.

Feathery foliage of western red cedar. Photo credit: Douglas Fraser
Close-up of the scale-like leaves of western redcedar. The species epithet ‘plicata’ is Latin for ‘pleated’ – the small leaf scales appear pleated together, covering the outside of the twig. Photo credit: Douglas Fraser

Like other conifers, western redcedar has pollen-bearing and (egg) seed-bearing cones. Both are small, especially the male pollen-bearing cones are tiny.

The male pollen-bearing cones of western redcedar are tiny, and difficult to notice. They are the brown, scaly structures at the tips of some of the fine twigs in this photograph.
The female cones of western redcedar are also small, about 1.5-2 cm long. Immature green female cones are shown in this photograph.

As in shore pine, the female cones remain on the tree long after the seeds have been released. You can often spot clusters of brown, open cones in the foliage of western redcedar.

Spent female cones that have released their seeds remain on the branch.

Take some time to educate yourself not only about the biology of western redcedar, but about its cultural significance in our area. It’s truly a remarkable tree. Western redcedar was adopted as British Columbia’s provincial tree in 1988.

For a comparison between leaf/needle and female cone characteristics of the four conifers listed on this site, please see this conifer comparison page.