western redcedar
- Latin name: Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don
- French name: Thuya géant
- Synonym(s): Giant arborvitae western thuja
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 18044
- Hardiness zone: C6, NA5
Description
Leaves
Form
- Scale-like leaves have inconspicuous resin glands on outer surface
Length
- Scale-like leaves 1–2 mm
- Lance-shaped leaves 4–5 mm
Colour
- Shiny yellowish-green
Twigs
Form
- Shoot complex elongated, tapering, often fern-like and pendulous
Colour
- Upper surface yellowish-green
- Lower surface often whitened
Seed cones (mature)
Form
- Ovoid
- 8–10 scales, often with a small, weak, sharp point near the tip
Length
- 12–18 mm
Timing
- Ripen in late summer
- Shed during the winter
Bark
Form
- Thin, shiny when young
- Shredded, with age forming narrow flat ridges
Colour
- Reddish-brown
Wood
Texture
- Very light, soft, relatively weak
- Characteristic odour
- Heartwood resistant to decay
- Sapwood less resistant to decay
Colour
- Heartwood pinkish or reddish-brown to deep brown
- Sapwood yellowish-white
Morphology
- Straight-grained
Uses
- Shakes and shingles, poles, posts
- Boatbuilding, greenhouse construction
- Outdoor patios, exterior siding
- Doors, window sashes, millwork, interior finishing
Size
Height
- To 60 m
Diameter
- To 250 cm
Maximum age
- 800 years
Tree form
Open-grown
Trunk
- Often obscured by dense live foliage
Crown
- At altitudes above 1500 m, a small tree or shrub
Forest-grown
Trunk
- Tapering rapidly, flaring and buttressed at the base
Crown
- Long, symmetrical, narrowly conical, becoming irregular with age
- Principal branches spreading, drooping, upturned at the ends
- An old tree may have one or more dead tops
Root system
- Shallow, wide-spreading, strong
Habitat
Site
- From sea level to 2000 m in forests of the coast and wetter parts of interior British Columbia
- Grows best on moist alluvial sites
- Also found on rich dry soils and in sphagnum bogs
Associated species
- Seldom occurs in pure stands
- Usually mixed with species such as Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, western hemlock, black cottonwood, red alder
- At higher elevations, with Engelmann spruce and western larch
Range
A western species
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Poplar-and-willow borer
Scientific name: Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus).
Cones or seeds
- Enypia venata (Grote)
- Epinotia hopkinsana (Kraft)
- Eupithecia niphadophilata (Dyar)
- Eupithecia placidata (Taylor)
- Eupithecia unicolor (Hulst)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Great brocade
Scientific name: Eurois occulta (Linnaeus)
-
Rosner’s hairstreak
Scientific name: Callophrys grynea rosneri (Johnson)
-
Western cedar borer
Scientific name: Trachykele blondeli Marseul
Foliage or buds
Hemlock looper
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Arborvitae weevil
Scientific name: Phyllobius intrusus Kono
-
Brown cedar leafminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites thujaella (Kft)
-
Brownlined looper
Scientific name: Neoalcis californiaria (Packard)
-
Cypress leaftier
Scientific name: Epinotia subviridis Heinrich
-
Dioryctria moth
Scientific name: Dioryctria pseudotsugella Munroe
-
Douglas-fir bud moth
Scientific name: Zeiraphera hesperiana (Mutuura & Freeman)
- Enypia venata (Grote)
- Epinotia hopkinsana (Kraft)
- Eupithecia longipalpata (Packard)
- Eupithecia unicolor (Hulst)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
- Gabriola dyari (Taylor)
-
Golden buprestid
Scientific name: Buprestis aurulenta Linnaeus
-
Gray spruce looper
Scientific name: Caripeta divisata Walker
-
Green velvet looper
Scientific name: Epirrita autumnata (Harrison)
-
Greenstriped forest looper
Scientific name: Melanolophia imitata (Walker)
-
Hemlock looper
Scientific names:
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Hydriomena irata Swett
-
Larch pug moth
Scientific name: Eupithecia annulata (Hulst)
-
Northern tent caterpillar
Scientific name: Malacosoma californicum pluviale (Dyar)
-
Packard’s gridle moth
Scientific name: Enypia packardata (Taylor)
- Pero behrensaria (Packard)
-
Pero moth
Scientific name: Pero morrisonaria (Hy. Edwards)
-
Phantom hemlock looper
Scientific name: Nepytia phantasmaria (Strecker)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
-
Poplar-and-willow borer
Scientific name: Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus).
- Promylea lunigerella Ragonot
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Saddleback looper
Scientific name: Ectropis crepuscularia (Denis and Schiffermuller)
-
Silverspotted tiger moth
Scientific name: Lophocampa argentata (Packard)
-
Spruce fir looper
Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
- Synaxis pallulata (Hulst)
- Thallophaga hyperborea (Hulst)
-
Western hemlock looper
Scientific name: Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa (Hulst)
-
Whitelined looper
Scientific name: Epirrita pulchraria (Taylor)
- Xestia mustelina (Smith)
-
Yellowlined forest looper
Scientific name: Cladara limitaria (Walker)
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical sap rot
Pathogen name: Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen: Fr.) P. Karst.
Cones or seeds
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Cedar leaf blight
Pathogen name: Didymascella thujina (E.J. Durand) Maire
Foliage or buds
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Cedar leaf blight
Pathogen name: Didymascella thujina (E.J. Durand) Maire
-
Phomopsis canker of douglas-fir
Pathogen name: Diaporthe lokoyae Funk
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Annosus root and butt rot (Heterobasidion occidentale)
Pathogen name: Heterobasidion occidentale Otrosina & Garbel
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
Pitted sap rot
Pathogen name: Trichaptum abietinum (Dicks.) Ryvarden (Common names for this fungus: purple conk fungus, purple-toothed polypore)
Schweinitzii butt rot
Pathogen name: Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Pat. (Common names for the fungus: velvet-topped polypore, dyer’s polypore)
White butt rot - White laminated rot
Pathogen name: Ceriporiopsis rivulosa (Berk. & Curtis) Gilb. & Ryvarden
Distribution map
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