Leaves: Incense Cedar has small, flat scale-like leaves forming overlapping, long, wedge-shaped joints. The leaves are often described as forming the shape of a wine glass, but beer drinkers would swear that they are shaped like a beer glass. This pattern, often outlined in white, is distinct to Incense Cedar. The foliage forms flat sprays that often have a vertical orientation, unlike Western Red Cedar, which has drooping sprays with a horizontal orientation. The leaves release a distinctive aroma when crushed.
Cones: The differences that distinguish Incense Cedar leaves and bark from other cedars may be subtle, but Incense Cedar cones are unmistakably unique. They are shaped like a duck's bill, and when they mature, they open, showing the open bill with its tongue sticking out.
Bark: The reddish-brown bark looks similar to the bark of the other native cedars, but it is deeply furrowed on large trees.
Where it grows: Incense Cedar grows in the Cascades at elevations between 2000 and 6000 feet. A few grow as far north as Mount Hood but it grows more extensively as you travel south through the Cascades to the Siskiyous and coastal mountains of southwest Oregon. It also grows in many mountainous areas of California.
Incense cedar at Hoyt Arboretum
Uses: Most pencils were once made from Incense Cedar. It was also used to make aromatic cedar chests. It is often grown as an ornamental, and is used in Christmas wreaths, where its bright pollen cones seem to glow like tiny lights.
Names: Calocedrus means "beautiful cedar." Decurrens describes how the leaves extend down the stem. The English form of the word is "decurrent." Other common names: White Cedar and California Post Cedar.
Note that Incense Cedar is not a true cedar. That is, its genus is not Cedrus, the genus of the true cedars from the Middle East and Himalayas. Some writers indicate this by writing the name as "incense-cedar."
© 2011 Ken Denniston